{"id":1266,"date":"2018-03-30T23:30:04","date_gmt":"2018-03-31T03:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/?p=1266"},"modified":"2018-03-16T09:36:23","modified_gmt":"2018-03-16T13:36:23","slug":"a-turning-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/?p=1266","title":{"rendered":"A Turning Point"},"content":{"rendered":"

As discussed in the previous columns, Jack Kirby\u2019s Fourth World has languished in mediocrity since the original excitement that surrounded its launch in the early 1970s.\u00a0 The only two exceptions were The Great Darkness Saga<\/a><\/em> in the Legion of Super-Heroes and the X-Men\/Teen Titan one-shot<\/a> featuring the \u2018resurrection\u2019 of Dark Phoenix at the hands of Darkseid.<\/p>\n

While both of these tales were exceptional in both art and story, both of them focused almost exclusively on Darkseid, whose villainy was more a vehicle for storytelling and rather than one for exploring his personality.\u00a0\u00a0 He was used like a force of nature, a hurricane that descends upon the town and whose destructive force must be dealt with by our heroes.\u00a0 And the inhabitants of New Genesis were almost totally absent (excepting for a brief and even briefer appearance by Izaya and Orion at the end of the Great Darkness Saga<\/em>). It was beginning to look like Kirby\u2019s concepts and characters were merely stage dressing and props for other more interesting folk; want to accentuate Super-man\u2019s heroism \u2013 have him deal with Darkseid.<\/p>\n

The turning point came in 1988 with the publication of the four issue Cosmic Odyssey<\/a><\/em> by the creative team of Jim Starlin, Mike Mignola, Carlos Garzon, Steve Oliff, and John Workman.<\/p>\n

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Starlin was already well known for his cosmic opera style with his handling of Thanos as the ultimate villain for Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock.\u00a0 In both of these story arcs, he was able to create highly textured heroes and villains and interesting events that caused their confrontation.\u00a0 Cosmic Odyssey<\/em> finds Starlin once again at the top of his game, this time creating circumstances that bring the war between New Genesis and Apokolips to a new stage \u2013 an alliance between Darkseid and Izaya in the face of a greater evil.<\/p>\n

This series is also notable three other things.\u00a0 First there is Starlin\u2019s exploration of the human side of his characters using several interpersonal exchanges between pairs of characters.\u00a0 These interactions serve to soften and humanize what would otherwise be simply another \u2018worlds about to end\u2019 story.\u00a0 Second there is his attention to detail.\u00a0 Along the course of the story, Starlin add little bits of exposition that clarify inconsistent points that were either ignored or were exacerbated in previous New Gods stories.\u00a0 And third, Mignola\u2019s art style is not only evocative and well-suited for the storyline but also works in iconographic elements similar to what Keith Giffen did for The Great Darkness Saga<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The plot is straightforward enough.\u00a0 In similar fashion as the X-Men\/Teen Titans one shot, it starts with Metron\u2019s insatiable thirst for knowledge and his attempt to breach what should not be breached \u2013 this time the secret of Anti-life.<\/p>\n

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Darkseid, who has long lusted after the secret, finds Metron and realizes that the end is nigh.\u00a0 Anti-life isn\u2019t a thing but a sentient entity that seeks to invade our universe and destroy it.\u00a0 In breaching the barrier between the two dimensions, Metron has, inadvertently, allowed four Anti-life Aspects to follow him back.\u00a0 These Anti-life Aspects now threaten four star systems (Earth\u2019s being one) with annihilation via doomsday devices, the destruction of any two ensuring that the parent entity can be freed.<\/p>\n

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Four teams are formed to capture the four aspects and destroy their doomsday devices before detonation:\u00a0 Batman and New Genesis\u2019 Forager<\/a> on Earth, New God Lightray<\/a> and Teen Titan Starfire<\/a> on Rann<\/a>, Superman and Orion<\/a> on Thanagar<\/a>, and the Green Lantern John Stewart<\/a> and the Martian Manhunter J\u2019onn J\u2019onzz<\/a> on Xanshi.\u00a0 Darkseid and Izaya and Jason Blood\/Etrigan<\/a> stay behind on New Genesis, ready to implement a back-up plan should the dispatched teams look to fail.<\/p>\n

While there is no doubt that the teams will somehow succeed and the universe will be saved, Starlin does a wonderful job of building the suspense and using the pairings to bring out aspects of the various personalities that would be lost otherwise.<\/p>\n

The most poignant pairing come between John Stewart and J\u2019onn J\u2019onzz, who are dispatched to Xanshi, a world whose technology has perfected planetary geophysical control (weather and geology), which the aspect exploits in order to stop Stewart and J\u2019onzz.\u00a0 Believing his power ring as the be-all-end-all, Stewart decides that J\u2019onzz is a liability best left behind.<\/p>\n

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Unfortunately, the aspect knows full well about the weakness of the Green Lantern power rings to yellow and it paints the entire doomsday device with that color (note the smugness the aspect wears on its host body \u2013 an excellent example of Mignola\u2019s style)<\/p>\n

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rendering Stewart completely helpless to prevent the death of millions as the Xanshi star system is destroyed. The interchange between J\u2019onzz and Stewart, floating amidst the debris of what was once a flourishing world is particularly powerful.<\/p>\n

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Later on, after the danger has been averted, a morose and self-pitying Stewart contemplates suicide.\u00a0 J\u2019onzz uses a little reverse psychology to put the chip back on Stewart\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The team-up between Superman and Orion on Thanagar is also interesting.\u00a0 Thanagar is the home of the powerful Hawk-Police, from whom Hawkman and Hawkwoman came.\u00a0 Since time is of the essence, Superman decides to get into the facility where aspect lies while Orion keeps the Hawkpolice occupied.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Orion is portrayed by Starlin as much more arrogant and insensitive than Kirby\u2019s original concept.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t understand why Superman would forego a head-on approach and why the famous Kryptonian avoids the conflict that he craves.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, Superman is eventually successful in capturing the aspect and destroying his doomsday machine.\u00a0 But success comes with a price, as Superman soon learns when he rejoins Orion above ground to find just how far the New God was willing to go to keep Thanagar\u2019s citizens occupied.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The most interesting interactions center on Batman, whose brain and guile more than make up for his lack of cosmic superpowers.\u00a0 The tone is set early, when Darkseid introduces his plan for capturing the Anti-life aspects.\u00a0 Discussing his analysis in a condescending way, Darkseid makes sure that the \u2018Earthers\u2019 understand just how paltry their intellects are in comparison to his.\u00a0 Batman mocks this attitude when he receives his aspect-capture device.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But not knowing how a given scientific principle works doesn\u2019t mean one is stupid, and, upon returning to Earth with Forager, Batman makes a phone call<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This \u2018friend\u2019 turns out to be Doctor Fate<\/a>, who uses his great magical abilities to thwart Darkseid\u2019s hidden attempt to control the Anti-life entity for his own purposes.\u00a0 Marshalling his own power and those of Darseid, Etrigan, Izaya, and Orion, Doctor Fate creates a way of sealing the Anti-life entity away by destroying the conduit to its realm.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The universe is now safe from the Anti-life Entity\u2019s invasion but the two remaining Aspects still pose a threat.\u00a0 Lightray and Starfire manage to succeed with little trouble thanks Starfire\u2019s cleverness (in the one lackluster storyline).\u00a0 Batman and Forager have a much harder time and they only avert disaster thanks to Forager\u2019s last-minute heroics that, unfortunately, take his life.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

Bearing the news (along with the captured Aspect) back to New Genesis, Batman is enraged when Orion acts callously to Forager\u2019s death and he reacts in one of the most emotionally-filled moments.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Orion\u2019s prejudice towards Forager\u2019s people and his humbling at Batman\u2019s hands form the initial arc for the third New Gods series that follows.\u00a0 Indeed, the final page of Cosmic Odyssey<\/em> sets the stage when Izaya and Orion talk.<\/p>\n

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The fine plot and character exploration and development are complemented by Starlin\u2019s attention to the continuity details of the New God\u2019s universe.\u00a0 He starts by shading the story of the Elder Gods demise and the birth of the New God\u2019s by tying the former\u2019s catastrophic end to their unlocking of the Anti-life secret.<\/p>\n

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Employing the Anti-life solution not only ended the Elder God\u2019s existence, it severed both New Genesis and Apokolips, which rose from the ashes, from the rest of the Universe by a rift that can only be spanned by the Boom Tubes.<\/p>\n

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Finally, it is worth noting that much of Starlin\u2019s story is complemented by Mignola\u2019s artistic presentation.\u00a0 Early in Book 1, the reader is treated to a visual of Lightray and Superman<\/p>\n

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that not only clearly identifies Superman by isolating the \u2018S\u2019 on his chest but also emphasizes Lightray\u2019s brightness.\u00a0 Later in the same book, Mignola gives us a stealthy Batman on the trail of a shock trooper from Apokolips.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mignola is able to convey Batman\u2019s shadowy presence and the overwhelming difference in sizes in one beautifully constructed frame.\u00a0 Mignola, employs a similar construction when Darkseid and Etrigan first confront the Anti-life Entity whose most imposing feature is his lack of features.<\/p>\n

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There you have it.\u00a0 The first serious and competent treatment of Kirby\u2019s Fourth World since Kirby\u2019s initial run in the early seventies.\u00a0 Cosmic Odyssey<\/em> marks the turning point in the New Gods<\/em> franchise within the DC Universe.\u00a0 Starling showed that with some thought these tales of good versus evil could have a new and interesting life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As discussed in the previous columns, Jack Kirby\u2019s Fourth World has languished in mediocrity since the original excitement that surrounded its launch in the early 1970s.\u00a0 The only two exceptions… Read more ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1266"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1270,"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1266\/revisions\/1270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}