New Gods #5 – Comics Archeology

New Gods #5 (1971)
by Jack Kirby

I would praise the lack of a collage if Kirby bothered with a background.

But don’t worry, we still hit our collage quota thanks to the splash page showing Metron traveling through time and space.
On its own, the image Kirby composed is nicely otherworldly, but I’m still complaining because:
A) Metron doesn’t feel like he’s in the same scene, AT ALL
B) for the millionth time, JACK FREAKING KIRBY couldn’t draw a better background!?

Next we have a double splash page introducing one of the aspects of the Fourth World mythology that I find the most fascinating, possibly because it’s one of the few parts that hasn’t been over-explained to death.
The Promethean Galaxy, where ginormous alien beings are chained forever for committing some sort of cosmic crime.

That’s something that would fit right in with Greek mythology about the hubris of lesser gods and the Christian tradition of angelic wars, with these mysterious giants trapped forever for trying to reach for things beyond their understanding.
Or “try the maximum state”, whatever the heck that means.

Then again, the fact that the force these titans were trying to contact is in regular contact with New Genesis kind of undermines the whole point.

Still, even with all its contradictions, I would rather follow the cryptic clues to this elusive new mythology than Orion’s boring adventures.

This is the first appearance of detective Dan Turpin… well, kind of. He was part of the Boy Commandos in their Golden Age series (by Simon & Kirby), and he’s being reintroduced now.

I like Dan Turpin, mostly because he has a ton of great post-Crisis appearances; he’s your typical “tough as nails but secretly has a heart of gold character”, but has a lot of personality.
He’s definitely a better success story than his contemporaries of the Newsboy Legion, because Turpin could have been stuck LIKE THIS past the Golden Age:

That guy with a pipe talking to Dan Turpin is one of the civilians hanging around Orion, because for some reason we’re still following them.

What the… these guys have lives on their own and don’t just wait around for the plot to need them? The last issues could’ve fooled me!!!

If only they could grow a personality or stop repeating their first and last name every other panel, they would almost feel like characters.

Speaking of Orion, what has he been up to?

Yeah that’s about right.

Our hero, ladies and gentlemen, endangered by a giant clam.

But once the Apokolips goon leaves, Orion frees himself in an uninteresting manner.

Even if the panel where he deals the final blow is badass.

Then he fights a shark-man…

…and comes across a splash page.

You know what, I might have stumbled on the ONE thing Kirby ever struggled drawing… people running. Is it just me or does he always everyone in the same exact pose when they run?

Meanwhile, Dan Turpin interrogates a guy who has been mauled by the undersea creatures.

Unlike Eternals, which started out outside of the Marvel Universe and was reluctantly connected to it later, the Fourth Wall is FIRMLY established as part of the DC Universe early on (given that both Jimmy Olsen and Superman are given prominent roles).
So the fact that the cops don’t consider the existence of UFOs is even weirder than Turpin’s non-sequitur answer.

I disagree with… whatever this guy’s name is. Nobody asked you guys to be heroes, you’re not prepared to be heroes, and YOU LIVE IN A WORLD FULL OF HEROES.

Next, Kalibak arrives to Earth.

He has to be more interesting than this placeholder Orion is fighting, right? God I hope so.

The only almost interesting thing happening during this fight is that Orion seems to be enjoying destroying this guy’s Mother Box™ a little too much… but at the same time, that weird “war is terrible and sad because I’m smashing a computer” doesn’t help making it feel like a serious moment.

Ah yes, the monstrous and horrific face of the son of Space Satan… because he has a bushy unibrow.

And we close with a splash page of a gigantic sea monster that has been unleashed.

But wait, we’re not done yet! Because remember that, in his Jimmy Olsen run, Kirby started having a second short story? Typically trying to expand the Project D.N.A. lore and explaining nothing?

He also does something similar here, showing us Supertown.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a character nobody has ever cared about!

In theory this would be a neat idea: show who the people of New Genesis spend their time when they’re not trapped in countless subplots.
In practice, they’re just easily amused people who fly around to catch the fastest guy they know.

See, it’s stuff like this that doesn’t make me buy the whole modern Morrison interpretation of the New Gods as “avatars of universal concepts”… they’re just dudes.

Also, the endless pontificating about Highfather being this larger-than-life wise figure that contemplates the secrets of the cosmos falls flat when in his spare time he’s just listening to his private concerts.

This issue reprints a Manhunter story, introduced by Kirby breaking the fourth wall with a self-portrait.

Historical significance: 3/10
The first “true” appearance of Dan Turpin. He’s not particularly important in the original run, but he grows into a beloved character.

Silver Age-ness: 1/10
Standard superhero shenanigans that could happen at any point.

Does it stand the test of time? 2/10
Once again I struggle to find any positives besides the artwork. I like the concept of the Promethean Galaxy, but IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE STORY.
In fact everything feels incredibly disjointed, as it’s always the case with this series.
Even Dan Turpin, who I know can be a very charming character, is incredibly boring here.

Splash pages: 4 out of 26 (15%)
Splash + double splash pages: 6 out of 24 (23%)

Most Kirby panel

Most WTF panel

Interesting letters: last time we had the first Fourth Wall letters, but now they’re finally focusing on New Gods issues.

The letters page (curated by Mark Evanier) begins by praising the new inker, Mike Royer.
I always suck at recognizing the work of inkers, to the point that honestly the artwork didn’t feel significantly different to me.

I guess it’s good to know HOW he does them, but I’m crossing my fingers that a future issue will explain WHY Kirby does those collages instead of drawing.

I profoundly detest this approach to writing stories. Yes SOME stuff should be left to the reader’s imagination, but this is pretty much an admission that none of this is supposed to make any sense and Kirby is just throwing ideas around.