Comic Book Review – New Gods by Jack Kirby

New Gods by Jack Kirby (2018)
Reprints New Gods #1-11, New Gods reprint series excerpts, DC Graphic Novel #4: The Hunger Dogs, and excerpts from Who’s Who
Written by Jack Kirby
Art by Jack Kirby, Mike Royer, Vince Colletta, D. Bruce Berry, Don Heck, and Greg Theakston

Did DC truly understand what Jack Kirby had given them in his Fourth World concept? Do they realize it yet, or will they just never get it? While Jimmy Olsen was the foot in the door, once Kirby got his core books off the ground, he unleashed a reinvention of what comics could be. New Gods is a comic that doesn’t always have to be about its central characters in the present day. During this year-long run, Kirby would go back in time and tell us stories from these characters’ pasts or stories that gave us information they were not privy to. The result is a sprawling synthesis of Biblical storytelling and modern pop art sensibilities. This is the kind of comic book that only a person like Jack Kirby could have conjured up, a vast cosmic ocean emerging from the mind of a true artistic visionary.

The story begins with an ending. The Old Gods increased their fervor to the point that they exploded into an internal war, ultimately wiping them and their reality out. From the tumult of what remained, matter & energy spinning in violent tandem, were twin worlds: New Genesis and Apokalips. The former is the home to the idyllic society of Supertown, a floating city populated by superhuman beings who believe in empathy, love, and bravery. Its shadow is an artificial world forged and shaped by ancient dark powers. Fire pits the size of whole continents blast the rage of the planet’s internal furnaces into the surrounding space. Here the people are crushed by the will of Darkseid and his minions, systematically broken into what are derisively referred to as Lowlies. No two worlds of such varying perspectives & drives have ever existed more than these two orbs.

Into this ageless conflict is tossed Orion of New Genesis, a bold & gruff warrior who feels caught in the middle. He’s inspired by the mentorship of Highfather, the patriarch of Supertown, and is balanced in his friendship with the plucky Lightray. Of all the people Orion encounters daily, the one who infuriates him the most is the cerebral Metron, an explorer & scientist, perched in his Mobius Chair and choosing to take neither side in the ongoing war. Orion could not imagine a more spineless path than to choose neither side; at least the Apokaliptians would fight to the death on the battlefield. 

Everything changes when Highfather receives a communication from the Source, the disembodied cosmic power that shapes everything. He is told that Darkseid has set his sights on Earth. The dark god has learned the secret to the anti-life equation lies in this primitive blue world. To know the equation is to have control over the thoughts and actions of all living beings, to end free will and choice, replaced with the fate of an automaton in the hands of Darkseid. 

Upon Orion’s arrival on Earth, via a boom tube conjured up by his Mother Box, he finds a world where the seeds of Darkseid’s corrupt coup have already been planted and are growing to fruition. The hero’s presence also causes his enemy to send reinforcements to ensure the anti-life equation is found and brought to him on his throne, Apokalips. What follows is a war for the soul of humanity, and at every turn, Orion discovers another nefarious plot hatched by his foe. Each wicked plan hinges on some flaw in the human spirit, exploitation of the conflict that resides in all people’s hearts.

Then there’s the strange case of the Black Racer, a space-soaring entity representing Death’s neutral force. Lightray escapes this inevitable final enemy via a boom tube but brings the Racer to Earth. Here the Racer encounters Willie Walker, a Black American man who served in the Vietnam War and is now comatose, cared for by his sister and her husband. Willie and the Racer become one, and only in the act of collecting souls for the next world can the war veteran walk again. He will not even be granted the relief of death while handing it out to others.

New Gods is a comic where on one page, you’ll get a staggering spread of photo collages and Kirby’s art detailing a barrier of petrified, chained titans holding back the raw power of creation, and then on the next, a story begins about Orion fighting an ocean leviathan while a bickering family trapped as see with him reveal their true colors in the face of crisis. Humans live out the very parables they were told as children to prevent them from doing such things. And the gods exist in a constant state of Shakespearean tragedy, brokering deals that damn the next generation of their own people for the sake of possibly saving the far future.

This is unlike anything you have seen and represents a massive shift in DC Comics. This saga is told across three books: New Gods, The Forever People, and Mister Miracle. We’ll get to the other two, but this is the pinnacle of them all. The battles are epic, building off of the storytelling Kirby had been doing for Marvel on Fantastic Four and Thor. Orion’s story is as tragic as any of the great myths, a monster who is allowed to appear as a noble hero thanks to a fairy godmother or, in this case, the living computer that is Mother Box. Kirby isn’t afraid to throw some curveballs at us, one of them being the spry Forager, a member of a Bug tribe that lives on the surface of New Genesis. Through Forager, we learn that the “good guys” also have a dark side, adding even more complexity to an already gorgeously dense and sprawling narrative.

This collection includes some rare jewels that bring Kirby’s main narrative to a close. In 1984, these comics were reprinted, and Kirby had repaired his working relationship with DC by this time. In the final reprint issue, he included “Even Gods Must Die!” which served as a bridge to what he wanted to do next. That epic story is found in The Hunger Dogs, an original graphic novel that sees Orion leading a rebellion on Apokalips for his final battle with Darkseid. In The Hunger Dogs, Kirby is at his most raw narratively & artistically. I could understand if someone is turned off by Kirby’s very distinct art style, but I can’t imagine a more perfect fit for these stories. No other comics creator could have pulled this off, and they have certainly tried over the years based on the number of attempts there have been to revive the series.

This isn’t a capes & tights book. This doesn’t have people making ironically detached quips to each other. This is the Bible, all the great myths of the world, the greatest works of literature, and everything that makes comic books what they are rolled into one stunning piece of work. I can’t think of another comic book that fully displays how perfectly these stories work in this medium. I cannot conceive of a New Gods movie that comes anywhere close to being as good as what we get on the page. New Gods could not be a better pick if you have been searching for a comic book to challenge you, and this one certainly will. It’s the growth of an artist into a new form, a transformation of the familiar into something more vast and beautiful than what came before.