New Gods
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| New Gods | |
 The New Gods #1, artist Jack Kirby |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | The New Gods #1, (February 1971) |
| Created by | Jack Kirby (writer & artist) |
| In story information | |
| Place of origin | New Genesis/Apokolips |
The New Gods are a fictional race published by DC Comics, as well as the title for four series of comics about those characters. They first appeared in The New Gods #1 (February 1971), and were created by Jack Kirby.
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[edit] History
The New Gods are natives of the twin planets of New Genesis and Apokolips. New Genesis is an idyllic planet filled with unspoiled forests, mountains, and rivers and is ruled by the benevolent Highfather, while Apokolips is a nightmarish, ruined dystopia filled with machinery and fire pits and is ruled by the tyrannic Darkseid. The two planets were once part of the same world, a planet called Urgrund, but it was split apart millennia ago after the death of the old gods during Ragnarok.[1] The characters associated with the New Gods are often collectively referred to as "Jack Kirby's Fourth World". The New Gods first appeared in New Gods #1 and Mister Miracle #1 (both titles were published concurrently). The other two "Fourth World" titles were Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen and The Forever People. Various New Gods, notably Darkseid, went on to interact with other denizens of the DC Universe.
The opening sequence of New Gods #1 references the "Old Gods" and the "New Gods" (e.g "When the Old Gods died..."). Visible in the rubble of what represents the last battle of the Old Gods is a helmet that resembles that worn by the Marvel Comics' character Thor.
After leaving DC Comics and returning to Marvel Comics, Kirby went on to create a similar concept in the Eternals.
[edit] Powers and abilities
The beings of New Genesis and Apokolips call themselves Gods and live outside of normal time and space in a realm called the Fourth World. These New Gods have evolved due to their close proximity to the Source, a primeval energy, believed to be one of the ultimate foundations of the Universal Expression of Energy, along with their superior technology, into beings of genetic stability and evolutionary perfection. The denizens of New Genesis and Apokolips are immortal, stronger, faster, and smarter than homo sapiens, despite their resemblance to the same.
The New Gods are vulnerable to a substance called Radion. Its source is unknown and its effects are toxic only in sustained amounts or after explosive exposure. The average New God can be slain by an application of Radion from a Radion blaster or bomb.
Writer Peter David introduced the idea that the New Gods were giants and that the Boom Tube would shrink them as they traveled to normal time and space or enlarge beings who traveled to the Fourth World realm. For example, if Superman were to travel to Apokolips under his own power, he would be miniature in comparison to the New Gods.
[edit] Inhabitants
[edit] Publication history
DC Comics has published four volumes of comic books under the banner "New Gods".
[edit] Volume One
[edit] New Gods (1971)
Beginning here, Jack Kirby established the groundwork for all future New Gods (and related) series'. New Gods #1 would mark the first appearance of Orion, Highfather, and Metron, among others, and further issues into the series would mark the first appearance of many other Fourth World characters, as well as explaining key concepts about the New Gods. Of note was issue #7, "The Pact", which sought to explain the backstory of the New Gods. 11 issues were published before cancellation by the publisher. Simultaneously published during this time were the Forever People and Mister Miracle series, also written and drawn by Kirby. All three series saw reprint in black and white form by DC Comics in 1998. In 2007, Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus began reprinting the series, along with Kirby's other Fourth World stories, in color and in published chronological order.
[edit] Return of the New Gods (1977)
While retaining the series' numbering, issues 12 through 19 of the first volume were published in late 1977 and early 1978, and with a slightly amended title, "Return of the New Gods." Gerry Conway would write the series, with Don Newton providing the pencils.
[edit] Volume Two (1984)
Essentially a reprint series, this volume packaged two issues apiece per single issue of the original 1971 series. Used mostly as a vehicle for Kirby's impending The Hunger Dogs graphic novel, part of the DC Graphic Novels line. The last issue of the six appended a new Kirby-created forty-eight page conclusion to the original 11 issue series that would lead into the Hunger Dogs.
[edit] The Hunger Dogs
Published as DC Graphic Novel #4, Kirby sought to use "The Hunger Dogs" as the end to his Fourth World saga but met with much editorial interference from DC Comics, who wished to keep the characters around for future use. As such, production of the graphic novel suffered many delays and revisions, including several pages being omitted as well as portions of the story being rearranged out of Kirby's intended reading order. [2][3]
[edit] Volume Three (1989)
Written by longtime Kirby understudy Mark Evanier, this would be the most lengthy New Gods run yet. Coming in at 28 issues, this volume was published from February 1989 to August 1991. This series is sometimes considered volume two, as volume two was essentially a reprinting of volume one.
[edit] Volume Four (1995)
Originally written by Tom Peyer and Rachel Pollack and pencilled by Luke Ross, Volume Four of New Gods ran from October 1995 until February 1997. Eventually taken over by John Byrne (for issues 12-15) at the tail end of the series, this title would be renamed as Jack Kirby's Fourth World, also by John Byrne, with numbering reset (the first issue would be, appropriately, #1), and covers provided by Walt Simonson. Somewhat of an extension of Byrne's Jack Kirby's Fourth World was Walt Simonson's Orion series, which continued to host the backup feature "Tales of the New Gods", begun in Byrne's Jack Kirby's Fourth World. Simonson wished to simply title his series "New Gods", but DC had felt the name had been used too recently [4]
[edit] Death of the New Gods
[edit] Appearances in comics
Outside of the original three Kirby titles, and those strictly labeled "New Gods", characters from Kirby's Fourth World have had their own titles. Mister Miracle has had numerous other iterations of his own comic, and Orion was given his own title in 2000 that ended in 2002. The aforementioned Jack Kirby's Fourth World is another example, as is Takion, a New God not created by Kirby, but one that had his own series for seven issues in 1996. The New Gods and their concepts have at times played a central role in the DC Universe, in series such as Jim Starlin's Cosmic Odyssey. Particularly, the character Darkseid has been a major force in the DC Universe, and is one of the main villains in the various Superman titles.
[edit] Tales of the New Gods
Tales of the New Gods was a backup feature that began in John Byrne's Jack Kirby's Fourth World, and continued in Walt Simonson's Orion series for DC Comics. In the features for Jack Kirby's Fourth World, John Byrne almost exclusively provided the pencils and text for the stories. In the features for the Orion title, Simonson would often write the story, and fellow artists would, appropriately, provide the artwork, although on rare occasions, other writers would provide the script/story.[5] Two backup stories, though not under the Tales of the New Gods banner, were printed when John Byrne filled in as penciller on Orion for the main stories in issues 13 and 14, with Simonson providing writing and pencilling duties, with Bob Wiacek inking. [6]
DC Comics recently announced that they will be releasing a Tales of the New Gods trade paperback in January 2008, which will collect all the back-up stories listed here, as well as a Mark Evanier/Steve Rude Mr. Miracle one-shot comic from 1987, as well as an unpublished story, meant to be printed in the pages of Orion, by Mark Millar and Steve Ditko.
[edit] In other media
In the mid-1980s, Darkseid, Kalibak, Desaad, and the planet Apokolips were featured in the final two incarnations of the Super Friends animated series, entitled Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians. New Genesis and its residents did not appear, and were not mentioned.
Various New Gods characters have appeared in the modern DC animated universe, with Kalibak, Darksied, and the Fourth World characters making their initial appearance in Superman: The Animated Series. They would appear in several episodes of that series, as well as Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.
[edit] List of special contributors
| Title | Artist | Writer | Issue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Kirby's Fourth World | Walt Simonson | Walt Simonson | 9 |
| Jack Kirby's Fourth World | Walt Simonson | Walt Simonson | 10 |
| Jack Kirby's Fourth World | Walt Simonson | Walt Simonson | 11 |
| Jack Kirby's Fourth World | Walt Simonson | Walt Simonson | 13 |
| Orion | Frank Miller | 3 | |
| Orion | Dave Gibbons | 4 | |
| Orion | Erik Larsen | Eric Stephenson | 6 |
| Orion | Howard Chaykin | 7 | |
| Orion | Rob Liefeld | 8 | |
| Orion | Art Adams | 11 | |
| Orion | Jim Lee | 12 | |
| Orion | John Paul Leon | Kevin McCarthy | 15 |
| Orion | Al Milgrom | 18 | |
| Orion | Eddie Campbell | 19 |
[edit] Awards
This series, with Forever People, Mister Miracle, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen won Jack Kirby a Shazam Award for Special Achievement by an Individual in 1973.
[edit] See also
Other notable Fourth World characters and concepts:
[edit] References
- ^ The Unofficial Old Gods Biography
- ^ Longtime Kirby assistant Mark Evanier's comments about the Hunger Dogs. Last Accessed March 12, 2007
- ^ Article about the Fourth World Omnibus, with mention of Kirby's Hunger Dogs. Last Accessed March 12, 2007.
- ^ Simonson interview by Westfield Comics, explaining the title of "Orion" for his series
- ^ Comics VF: Walt Simonson Bibliographie comics partielle. Accessed Feb 09, 2007.
- ^ Orion Credits. Last accessed Feb 09, 2007
[edit] External links
- Index to the Earth-1 Fourth World stories
- The New Gods Library - An Unofficial Fansite
- DCU Guide: Old Gods
- Comic Book Awards Almanac
- The New Gods Message Board at Comicboards.com
- Newsarama interview with Dwayne McDuffie on New Gods appearance in Firestorm
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