New Gods #10 (1972)
by Jack Kirby
These two are the last issued of New Gods before Kirby leaves.
We begin with Mantis, the bad guy of our story, waking up. If you were only reading New Gods and not Forever People you would have no idea of who he is, considering he BARELY showed up here.
The previous issue ended with Forager reaching Earth, and he’s still running around stealing food.
He runs around evading capture until PAGE SEVEN.
And he gets captured at page 8. Other than Mantis waking up, nothing else has happened.
We interrupt this comic for a Law And Order rerun.
After he returns to Marvel, Kirby will be criticized (especially on Captain America and Black Panther) for ignoring the social commentary of the previous runs.
I don’t know what they’re talking about, Kirby can be extremely topical.
That’s when Mantis reaches Earth.
I’m so used to seeing pencilers giving homage to Kirby that my first thought on the right panel was “that 100% looks like it was done by Keith Giffen”.
If that doesn’t say that Giffen was the best at imitating Kirby, I don’t know what does.
I don’t understand why the DA is so suspicious of Orion. He’s already helped the police deal with Kalibak, and I remind you that this is firmly set in the DC Universe so it’s not like they don’t accept the concept of superheroes.
I already found Orion insufferable before he started calling Forager’s people “lowly bugs”.
Without that “lowly” I might have accepted it as the name of his people.
Yeah I’m getting some very weird vibes from the way they interact with him.
Mantis and his troops attack the city. As we already saw on Eternals, Kirby is incredibly fond of scenes where the population is terrified of some invaders… possibly because he drew A LOT of those scenes in the 50s monster comics?
This leads to, what else, a Big Dumb Kirby Fight.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, is when the story turns absolutely bonkers.
Yes.
NOW.
Because Lightray decides they can’t win against Mantis, so he finds a random science lab…
…where they’re researching a sonic weapon…
…which can be used to shoot a “cosmic sound” like a laser.
I don’t know what’s most absurd.
The fact that Lightray’s explanation is as clunky as it could be.
The fact that the sound weapon is conveniently ready in the same city.
The fact that they need an Earth sound weapon instead of using the Mother Box™.
The fact that Lightray believes this is a hopeless fight despite the fact that Orion is kicking major Mantis butt the entire time.
But ultimately the “cosmic sound” is too much for Mantis and his army, and they flee.
And so we end with a little speech that doesn’t really mean anything.
Historical significance: 0/10
I’m not sure if more than a dozen people notice Mantis is invading.
Silver Age-ness: 10/10
That sound weapon is some peak Silver Age stuff.
Does it stand the test of time? 2/10
Kirby provides some neat Kirby artwork, but that’s it. There’s nothing here.
Conceptually this COULD have worked… if Orion really did start to lose the battle and needed both Forager and humans to triumph, it would have made narrative sense.
This issue is the shortest so far and it STILL feels like Kirby is stalling for time.
Splash pages: 3 out of 22 (14%)
Splash + double splash pages: 4 out of 22 (23%)
Most Kirby panel
Most WTF panel
Yes, that’s a giant insect. With two arms, to legs, a mask, a bag in his hand and a shield on his back, you need to ask?
New Gods #11 (1972)
by Jack Kirby
There was so little stuff there that I might as well complete the series.
Kalibak is still in police custody. Weird to see how adamant they are to kick these aliens off the planet, considering this is the DC Universe.
Kalibak manages to escape because the Commissioner allows him to get out of his cell.
Are we SURE the Commissioner is from Earth and not some weirdly-shaped Apokolips creature?
Meanwhile Orion does what he does best: throwing a tantrum.
I can’t believe I’m saying this but I would rather have Ikaris as a protagonist.
Kalibak is returning to the apartment of Dave Lincoln, where… wait, wasn’t that apartment destroyed a couple of years ago?
Also, Lightray is almost as fond as sitting on couches as Darkseid.
Speaking of Darkseid, since this is the finale it’s only appropriate for him to show up.
We even discover who Kalibak’s mother was!
In what is easily the most Darkseid moment of the series, he’s known for years (decades? Centuries? How old are these people!?) that Desaad killed his first wife… and didn’t care much for it.
This might as well be the last time Darkseid ever talks about his mother.
I’m kind of surprised we’re not told he also killed her.
We now proceed to, what else, a Big Dumb Fight.
Ah yes, of course, the Combat Code. The thing that has been part of this mythos from the very beginning and is not just showing up here for no reason.
With that out of the way, the Big Dumb Fight can proceed.
Orion is taken by surprise by Kalibak’s ability to shoot energy… and so am I, because where is this coming from?
Also, is there any reason why Orion is not using his flying harness and Astro-Force blasts anymore? Or is that suddenly not allowed by the Combat Code?
Well FOR ONCE it’s not Kirby changing the rules: Darkseid is surprised too!
Unfortunately for Desaad, Darkseid has a very weird relationship with Orion and won’t allow anyone else to kill him.
That’s a great Darkseid scene, but I should point out that this is yet ANOTHER case of Orion winning only because someone else hands him the victory.
So Orion defeats Kalibak, with the Black Racer collecting his soul.
This SOMEHOW motivates Orion into taking down Darkseid for good.
He won’t. The series is cancelled.
Mostly as a combination of poor sales and Kirby wanting to do something else, something VERY apparent since the last panel is right next to an ad for the first Kamandi issue.
Kamandi won’t be part of this retrospective as it’s not really a “Fourth World” book.
Historical significance: 2/10
It’s the final Kirby issue, but remember that I don’t count real life events for this score. And all that happens is that Desaad and Kalibak are dead for a minute.
Silver Age-ness: 4/10
A rule that completely changes the dynamic of the fights being introduced out of nowhere is VERY Silver Age, but on the other way Desaad’s machine powering Kalibak doesn’t get a nonsense explanation.
Does it stand the test of time? 6/10
Exclusively on the artwork and the strength of the Darkseid scenes, because holy crap does he steal the spotlight. Those are GREAT and a glimpse of what other writers will turn him into.
What else is there to say? The action is well-penciled and with great storytelling (IT’S KIRBY) but it lacks any sort of emotional stakes, and Orion is just unbearable as a protagonist.
Splash pages: 2 out of 21 (10%)
No double splash pages
Most Kirby panel
Most WTF panel
I can’t emphasize enough just how out of nowhere this feels.
And that was New Gods. The series goes on hiatus for 5 years, continuing for a couple of years under a new creative team until it’s cancelled for good in 1979.
I often find a lot of readers complaining that Kirby “never got to finish the story” because he quit DC Comics… but to be blunt, I don’t believe Kirby would ever finish it even with a hundred more issues: the plot had barely started!
Since there are more issues of Eternals than there are of New Gods, next I will take a look at the Forever People and Mister Miracle series. Not at the same level of detail, because I’m mostly interested in the parallels and contrast with Eternals.
After that, we will return to the New Gods with their last two stories written by Kirby.
Interesting letters: despite saying he loves the series, Matt points out that barely anything happens.
I disagree with his view about the letters page: yes there are several positive ones, but they were not afraid to publish the ones that were critical of Kirby.
Wait, the fact that Orion was Darkseid’s son was supposed to be a secret?
Maybe…fifteen years back? There were spiffy omnibus collections of the Fourth World books that have inexplicably gone out of print. Anyway things like Mantis popping up probably seemed less random that way.
I wonder what sport Dave Lincoln participated in in college to win that award that Orion destroys? As trophies go, it’s a bit odd.
I’m truly astonished that Kirby didn’t put “hang ups” in quotation marks when Dave Lincoln comments on the Combat Code. It seems like exactly the sort of “turn of phrase” that Kirby “loved” to put “random” and “pointless” quotation marks “around.”