New Gods #4 (1971)
by Jack Kirby
It’s the first cover of the series where Kirby doesn’t use a collage. Probably because he couldn’t find anything interesting to put it, since it just has Orion in a regular room.
We begin with a splash page of Metron showing a primitive planet to a random kid from New Genesis…
…followed by a two-page spread doing the same thing.
At least when Kirby will jump around from place to place on the pages of his “2001: A Space Odyssey” for Marvel, that series doesn’t pretend to have a plot.
And this MEANS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, because once Metron returns he’s informed by Highfather about the plot. We are already at the end of PAGE FOUR and absolutely nothing has happened.
Wait, make that PAGE FIVE, because it’s absolutely vital to have a splash page showing a guy being fished out of the river.
That guy was apparently one of Orion’s best friends, and now that he’s been killed we experience his tearful goodbye and his memories of their time together.
Just kidding, all we have is Orion give exposition with a stone face.
Dude, I know your father is Darkseid but COME ON!
I don’t know what I find more mind-boggling: the fact that the greatest penciler of superhero comics is constantly giving some of the most blatant examples of “tell, don’t show” I’ve ever seen… or that people truly believe this is a well-written series.
And then the dead guy’s Mother Box™ creates a storm that brings him to the next life, because I’m guessing we’re operating by Highlander rules now.
All while Darkseid is apparently lurking behind a splash page to watch the whole thing.
That’s ridiculous, there’s not even a couch there!
Meanwhile the supporting cast is just waiting around, waiting for this book to give them something to do.
Don’t you guys have jobs or loved ones? Why are always just hanging around in the same apartment waiting for Orion to show up!?
Well maybe, just maybe, if they keep repeating their names over and over again they will eventually become important.
And guess what, that’s really what happens: Orion decides they’re all going to cosplay as a gang.
Did Kirby already get bored and decided to turn this into a crime boss movie?
YES.
I have to remind you that these are COMPLETELY RANDOM PEOPLE that Orion saved, and they’re all suddenly busting an Intergang plot.
They manage to get a meeting with the local Intergang boss, who shoots them with an energy beam that causes Orion to finally bust into the scene.
Why he couldn’t do THAT without having the humans isn’t really clear to me.
But Kirby got bored about the crime stuff, so Orion finds a passage to fight the underwater monsters that killed his friend.
And that’s the end, because we end the story with a cliffhanger promising Spawn.
The story is technically over, but we have a splash page of Kalibak. Who looks slightly closer to his classic look than he was in his first appearance.
The issue reprints the first Manhunter story, so maybe that’s why Kirby had crime stories in mind.
Historical significance: 0/10
The introduction of even more characters that won’t matter.
Silver Age-ness: 8/10
Not just the fact that these random civilians are immediately able to coordinate against Intergang, but more importantly the fact that their involvement was completely unnecessary.
Does it stand the test of time? 2/10
The Kirby artwork is the only reason for buying this. Expect me to repeat this over and over in future issues… I mean is there really ANYTHING else to talk about here!?
If there had been even the slightest effort to make us care about the supporting characters, or feel Orion’s loss for the death of his friend, MAYBE this could have worked.
I feel absolutely nothing reading this.
Darkseid would approve.
Splash pages: 5 out of 24 (21%)
Splash + double splash pages: 7 out of 24 (29%)
Most Kirby panel
Most WTF panel
Both the question and the answer have nothing to do with anything.
Interesting letters: yes we have those too!
Apologies for the quality of the scans, this is the best I could find.
Technically speaking the previous issue was the first one with a letters page… but bizarrely they only had letters speaking about Forever People (which I will review later).
I won’t talk about the Forever People letters now, but there’s something worth nothing: in the answer to THE FIRST LETTER, the very first answer… acknowledges that little care was given to characterization, in an effort to shove these series out as soon as possible.
Well that’s not concerning in the slightest!
But let’s move to the letters published in issue 4 that DO talk about the New Gods… aaaand people were already confused about what the heck was going on.
Even readers that write saying they liked the story complain about the dialogue and about characters being one-dimensional.
And speaking of dialogue, we have a FASCINATING examination about why it doesn’t work but future Superman writer Elliot S. Maggin.
I’m not a big Maggin fan, in fact I don’t like the vast majority of his stories, but I find myself agreeing 100% with his words here.
Keep in mind that these are ALL the letters they publish on their first letters page.
They’re all either criticizing the plot, the dialogue or the characterization.
While I admire the honesty, is it any wonder that this series will only last 19 issues?