The New Gods, Vol. 1: The Falling Sky

The New Gods (2024)

by Ram V, Evan Cagle (Artist), Jorge Fornés (Artist)

Following the death of Darkseid, a cosmos-shattering prophecy begins, as Ram V and Evan Cagle reshape the mythology of the DC Universe!

An old god has died, and the reverberations of his passing are felt across the universe, setting forth the soldiers of an intergalactic army and awakening the latent powers of a mysterious child on Earth. But this has all been foreseen—prophesized by the Source and fed as enigmatic images to its agent, Metron.

Now, as Metron brings word of this cosmos-shattering prediction to the residents of New Genesis and Apokolips, both worlds are thrown into chaos and conflict. On Earth, Scott Free and Barda find themselves unaware of this incoming chaos while consumed with their most daunting task yet: parenthood.

The visionary team of writer Ram V (The Many Deaths of Laila Starr) and artist Evan Cagle (Superman and the Authority) bring the Fourth World to a whole new generation in this epic of cosmic proportions. An old god has died...the New Gods are born!

Fans of these compelling and unconventional Jack Kirby creations will be thrilled by this new imagining of the mythos! And current DC fans will be stunned to see how The New Gods fits into the DC All In initiative—and serves as a bridge between the DC Universe and Absolute Universe.

This volume collects The New Gods #1-6, the first half of the 12-issue saga.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Superheroes

152 pages, Paperback

First published August 26, 2025

About the author

Ram V (Ramnarayan Venkatesan) is an author and comic book writer from Mumbai, India. His comics career began in 2012 with the award-nominated Indian comic series, Aghori. A graduate of the City University of London’s Creative Writing MA, he has since created the critically acclaimed Black Mumba and the fantasy adventure series, Brigands.

Reviews

[Molly™☺ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Is...is the problem me? Because I couldn't tell you a single thing about any of the characters except for the ones I already know the backstory of, nor what is really happening outside of 'baby needs saving' and there are a ton of fights. However, the majority seem to think this is fantastic storytelling and the best thought-provoking politics piece since sliced bread. Barda and Scott are always fun together, and I would go so far as to say they are the highlight here, but when the competition involves Gods who repeat questions on life without giving more than surface level contributions (a very lazy way of trying to be deep), the bar for entertaining is low. If this was the Oscars, The New Gods Vol. 1 would certainly be nominated as 'poetic cinema' with its wacky visuals and experimental narrative, but it's also niche and abstract enough to feel isolating for the general public.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, is Ram V swinging for the fences with this one. I admit I'm not super well versed with The New Gods, but what I do know, is they are a big deal.

There is very effective use of multiple artists throughout this first half to tell important asides about our cast, and the core artist is used to tell Scott Free/Barda's quest to save the New God on earth. A mysterious new force arrives from deep space, and declares war. It's all truly epic in scope, and running with a pace that would make you think it has all the time in the world.

My biggest gripe is my fear I'm missing something others can see. I'm enjoying this, sure, but it's missing some glue, some connectivity to truly make it feel like something special. Maybe it's jumping around, maybe it's a bit esoteric, or maybe I'm just not in the know. But I truly do admire the artistry, and I should be reading this in much larger chunks. There's at least one or two quotes every issue that stick with me. Like Final Crisis, this saga will be one I'll have to revisit again and again to truly grasp the significance.

[Rory Wilding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack Kirby created the New Gods with his Fourth World metaseries in the early seventies, and thus became a major factor in the DC Universe, paving the way for other creators putting their own spin on these godly figures, whether it is the many Justice League comics or limited series like the recent Mister Miracle by Tom King and Mitch Gerads. Any tackling of the Fourth World should not be taken lightly and that is very apparent in the current series from the creators of Dark Horse’s Dawnrunner.

When it comes to the New Gods, Darkseid is the most recognisable of them all since he is often positioned as DC’s big bad and left enough of an impression with his brief screentime in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. If you have last year’s DC All in Special, you will know that Darkseid allowed himself to be killed in battle with the Justice League to become unbound from time and space, travelling to another universe and corrupting it with his influence, which is how we got the Absolute Universe.

The New Gods by Ram V and Evan Cagle explores how Darkseid's supposed death brings imbalance to the universe, particularly New Genesis and Apokolips as both worlds becoming targets of another intergalactic army, whilst Highfather fears a prophecy regarding a child on Earth that could either bring salvation or destruction.

The problem you have when writing the New Gods is how far you approach them as these characters on a cosmic level to the point you can’t engage them in an emotional human manner. While this isn’t a sequel to the aforementioned Mister Miracle – since that series was rather ambiguous with its realty-bending narrative – there is some continuing elements, most notably the marriage between Scott Free and Big Barda with their baby daughter. Any time the story focuses on them, you are reminded why you love them as a couple, particularly Barda who has always been head-strong whilst her husband is on diaper duties.

Whereas King and Gerads did a brilliant job in domesticising the New Gods with their series, Ram V goes through a more esoteric approach to the Fourth World, giving almost everyone a voice from Lightray to even Death himself that is the Black Racer. Whilst there are some interesting ideas going on, from Highfather who is not presented in a positive light as he sends Orion to kill the child to prevent the prophecy from coming to pass, Ram V’s writing can be too heavy in the worldbuilding and pretentious dialogue.

As Kirby’s Fourth World can be described as epic science fantasy, Ram V embraces his series in that way, along with artist Evan Cagle who maintains those classic Kirby designs though he brings his own sophisticated flourish that is closer to Geof Darrow’s hyper-detailed art. Cagle may serve as the primary artist, but there are also six guest artists, one for each of the six issues in this volume. From the likes of Jorge Fornés, Riccardo Federici and Filipe Andrade, they bring their own visual styles in showing how diverse the Fourth World is.

While this first volume is dense in its storytelling, I can appreciate The New Gods for taking big swings, as well as the artistry that visually rethinks this beloved world created by the King of Comics himself. It’ll be interesting to see where these cosmic characters go from here, some of which taking refuge on Earth, interacting with DC’s most iconic heroes.

[Oscar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork! Don't really know what's going on.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ram V's storytelling method in The Falling Sky is catnip for me. Do I know who the New Gods are? Not particularly. But does Ram V have me caring about a god-like figure invading their homeworld? Oh, absolutely. Ram V does a near-perfect job of giving out just enough information about these characters that when the shit hits the fan, you're riveted.

Also appealing: the almost Dragon Ball Z quality to the battle scenes. One all-powerful being slams into another all-powerful being, apparently evaporating him... only for the second all-powerful being to level up and return! It's kinda stupid, but also gorgeous?

I would try to relay the general plot of The Falling Sky, but it's a tangled web of battling figures from the farthest corners of the DC universe. The Source Wall seemingly plays a key role, so you know we're getting weird. Really, there are two main threads: on Earth, Mister Miracle and Big Barda are trying to save the life of a (maybe) reborn god, and on New Genesis, Highfather and his family are fending off a different ancient god. (Perhaps it wasn't so complex after all?)

The battles are great, the tiny character moments are cool. Hell, I even liked the wildly variant art styles thrown into each issue. The whole book made my brain crackle, which is how I know something is really engaging me. More, please.

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Between a 3 and a 4. This is a really solid story that uses tons of DC characters (the new gods themselves are like 10+) and I really enjoyed their interactions and the way each one felt distinct but connected to the whole. I am wondering how (or if) this can be wrapped up nicely, cosmic DC always seems to fall off and get so unraveled that it doesn’t feel conclusive, it feels like a blip- this story certainly COULD end this way, but I do love Ram V and hope he steers it home.

Big Barda and Mr. miracle are wonderful together, Orion is brutal and the JLA really feels like the classic team. The art throughout is great- it only rarely looks Kirbyesque, it does its own thing. It weaves watercolor and pencils in with high gloss comic art, really nice to look at- feels like you’re on outer space.

Ram V please finish this series and tie up the loose ends, I believe in you!

[Kamen Rider Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

amo como el comic usa varios estilos de arte distintos el principal para contar la historia "terrenal" en la tierra con Scott y Barda (que no sería meter la mano al fuego para decir que son los nuevos dioses más populares) para la misión del proteger al niño, mientras que tienes toda una gran cantidad de artistas variados con arte más experimental para los conceptos que quizá sean más alejados del lector promedio de lo que ocurre en el conflicto de nueva genesis y apokolipse luego de la caída de Darkside... realmente es un libro que me está gustando espero los nuevos capitulos

[Mariano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ram V haciendo lo que sabe hacer, salvo al final donde para mí le metieron mano

[Alex Sarll]

Ram V is one of the few who can write comics that have the appropriate mythic heft without stumbling into mere portentousness; Evan Cagle lives up to that in the art, giving us pages that have the bonkers science-fantasy scale of Kirby, without looking anything like Kirby, which is where so many artists go astray when taking on the characters most associated with him. And assisting him on assorted interludes are guest stars from cartoony Andrew MacLean to the dreamy pastels of Filipe Andrade, all appropriately deployed. In the modern comics field, I'm hard-pressed to think of a better team to handle the New Gods.

And yet.

The starting point for this story is that Darkseid, cosmic embodiment of evil, is dead. That should be an epochal event; perhaps not the end of all badness forever, but certainly a turning of the wheel. But, this being a shared superhero universe, obviously that can't happen, so instead a God Butcher type crawls out of the outer darkness, armada in tow, and everything gets worse, which feels like it undermines the whole concept of the characters. Nor does acknowledging that shared universe help; much like his Eternals at Marvel, Kirby slotting the New Gods into the DCU always felt like a compromise, except for when Grant Morrison in peak genius phase managed to divine the hidden threads to make sense of the coexistence. Absent that unique harmony, the best thing to do is just quietly ignore the rest of the gods and monsters knocking around, act like the only game in town, which is what the first four issues here do. But then the League turn up, which makes logical sense given events but undercuts the theme, all that talk of Old Gods falling and New Gods rising jarring once Diana, so firmly linked to old.gods, is sharing the page.

As for the Earthbound portion of the plot: leave aside that I'm of the cohort who will never be happy to see Maxwell Lord used as an outright villain; at least here we have reasons he might not be quite himself. But a story where a baby has been born who might have vast importance, and powerful forces are determined to take or kill it first? Yes, sure, it's a mythic archetype, it makes sense to use it in a.story where the players are divine. But can an archetype nevertheless feel overused? Which said, that side of things does star Scott Free and Barda, and – bar that horrible Tom King series everyone else seems to love – it's always a delight to see that pair.

But of course, even while I'm complaining about the philosophical underpinnings of this series, I'm aware that, compared to a lot of the absolute crap I've been seeing from DC lately, comics which can't muster a speck of emotional substance despite being able to play with the second-greatest collective fiction humanity ever assembled, my problems with New Gods are good problems to have. I'm irritated on a philosophical level, but in terms of the fantastical action and crazy moments, it's doing good work.

I still say that Death losing his skis is chickening out, mind.

[Adam Witt · Rating 4 out of 5]

(read in singles)

[Tony Laplume · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ram V has become my favorite new talent in comics. It’s always fun, finding those. In his original work and his superhero stories, he extends the bounds of what’s possible…Or at any rate, he keeps things interesting. He does that again with this ambitious take on the New Gods.

The New Gods are one of the most interesting things ever attempted in superhero comics. They are by some estimates the crowning achievement of Jack Kirby, often regarded as half the creator of half the most famous superheroes in American comics. They’re also his last, most ambitious project, undertaken in the ‘70s, when he debuted at DC after a fruitful ‘60s at Marvel. He envisioned an interlocking series of titles that mapped the adventures of the New Gods from multiple angles, always at breakneck speed, always surging forward to a conclusion he never got to reach…mostly because DC found a few aspects they desperately wanted to remain in play.

And so he left and the New Gods fell into the hands of other creators (and, once more, a coda from Kirby himself, though no one sees it that way), and the interpretations began, most notably from Walt Simonson, John Byrne, Grant Morrison, and Tom King. DC agreeing to place them in the hands of Ram was itself already a testament to its faith in him. He lived up to it in spades.

Ram’s imagination is dizzying. His Swamp Thing is existential to a degree even Alan Moore’s innovations couldn’t foresee, his Batman a step beyond even the worst crises the Dark Knight had faced before. But nothing Ram has done has cracked the mainstream, really, not yet. He’s still a hidden treasure.

His New Gods are truly epic in scope. They’re mythical. They’re not just superheroes and supervillains anymore. Often, even the most bold of them are easy to reduce in scale. Brian Azzarello had Orion play a distant second fiddle when he showed up in the pages of Wonder Woman. The whole of the New 52 era, in fact, despite having room to give titles to seemingly everything and everyone else, relegated the New Gods to Azzarello’s vision, and a Green Lantern arc.

Falling Sky, in simplest terms, pits Orion against Mister Miracle, over the fate of the newest New God, whom Ram invests in India, where his imagination frequently lingers. Where Metron stands in this, the potential of his machinations, and Highfather, and the host of the many other New Gods, many of whom have lain fallow since Kirby, blister across the pages…

This feels like the scale as it was always meant to be. DC can afford to give Ram the space, now. And were wise enough to give it to him. A classic in the making.

[PebbleInTheBrook1794 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Ram V taps into Creation myths with his work in New Gods, and the material is ideally suited for this approach. In truth, it is a good way of coming at Kirby's creations, and it could be similarly utilised for the Eternals or Asgardians (and I did find myself thinking you could swap out New Genesis for Asgard easily enough).

And Ram V has written on similarly spiritual books before, with the Many Deaths of Lila Star and Swamp Thing. Of course, V is a good writer and has written on neo-colonialism (These Savage Shores) and Gothic Horror (Detective Comics), so he can write in multiple modes and about different sophisticated things. As a Brit of Indian descent, I wonder if he also digs into his cultural familiarity with the Hindu Pantheon of Gods, in order to write the Creation myths of Kirby's New Gods, quite in the way he does.

This new All In story is decent, and there's a prophecy setting members of the New Gods against one another, and not to mention machinations on Apokalips. The telling of the New Gods' Creation myths is interspersed in the narrative, with ramifications for New Genesis in the present. Ram V is therefore digging deeper and creating a richer lore and world-building with his telling of the myths. You have to be into that mode of storytelling, but there are important details in the old myths, so don't skip them fully, if you're inclined to that.

V deploys and utilises the characters asociated with the New Gods books, well. Part of the story takes place on Earth, with Mr Miracle, Big Barda and Orion, at odds. Orion has been instructed by Highfather to kill a child New God, and MM and BB are protecting him. Meanwhile New Genesis faces new threats and the ending has notable progressions.

I like the art by Evan Cagle, and multiple other artists. They work well together to achieve a uniform effect, probably due to the good job of the colourist too. Altogether, it's a read with a couple of good hooks, and I'd be interested in buying the second trade.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Review covers the entire series]

War has come to New Genesis. A baby has been born that looks to change everything. Darkseid wants it. Highfather wants it. Scott Free and Big Barda, celebrating their own newborn child, need it. This'll end well for everyone.

This is some great stuff - when Ram V gets philosophical, you know you're going to sit up and take notice. There are discussions of meaning in the universe, the price of just one life, and what people will do to protect the people they care about, all wrapped up in a cosmic odyssey (not that one) that reaches out across the stars. I'm not as familiar with the New Gods mythos as the rest of the DCU, but I can tell V's done his research here. The ending promises to feed more into the overall plan for Darkseid as a part of DC All-In, so while this can be read as a self-contained story, it's definitely got greater implications elsewhere too.

The artwork is primarily Evan Cagle, though he drops away in the middle of the series to just do a few pages per issue, which is a bit disappointing. He's got a distinctive, sweeping style that really adds to the gravitas of everything that's going on, and while the other artists are formidable in their own right, they're not as series-defining on their own.

Not my favourite of V's work at DC, but still a very solid run that I expect even Jack Kirby himself would enjoy.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 'All In' aftermath from Darkseid's death continues...

Highfather has been having nightmares. Metron is getting premonitions. Barda and Scott are cleaning up baby poop. An unknown force is coming for the New Gods. With Darkseid gone, there's a power vacuum and Apokolips and New Genesis are targeted.

The prophecy says that a New God will be 'born' on Earth and be the tipping point for the New Gods and their place in the Fourth World. Highfather sends Orion to kill Mister Miracle's ...baby. Superheroing ensues (a welcome break from the dusty history they keep revealing)

We get a lore dump on the history of the Source and the worlds of the previous...universe. (got to admit it's an awful dense read). Origins of the motherboxes and some metaphysics about life and death are the big reveals.
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Come for the 'All In' connection and stay for the Mister Miracle roadtrip. Barda punching cars is always a fun time (next to throwing diapers at Scott's head). The art is good. The more meta bits get a more abstract design, which helps differentiate the shifts in tone and location.
====
Bonus: Grayven? Good use of a mediocre character
Bonus Bonus: Olivia Free...lil baby Liv Free. Honestly, as great a name as Scott Free

[Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darkseid is... dead ? And his killer is coming for the New Gods next. Another DC property I'm not quite familiar with yet. I've come across Miracle, Barda and Orion in other books, but never read any of Kirby's Fourth World stuff. I'm really digging Ram V's take though. I usually kind of struggle to connect with god-like alien societies like this (Eternals, Asgardians etc), but the world building's really awesome and the Barda/Miracle story kind of balances out the grandeur of New Genesis.

And Evan Cagle really kills it on art. I was scared it would be a little too "sombre" for what I visually tie to a 70s color scapes, but he's having fun with it. It's very dynamic. And Barda's intro shot was awesome ! I'm loving all the guest artists too.

Also, funny that the two DC comics I read this week had Darkseid playing important background role ! I'm assuming his death and the creation of the absolute universe are linked ? I haven't really been following tbh

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I figure I like Ram V and Tom King’s run on Mister Miracle remains one of my favorite DC comics of the last decade or so. While there are some parts of the mythologizing here that are so big and so mythic that I wasn’t totally following them, the strength of Ram V’s world building and characterization keep everything moving along at a solid pace. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this to anyone who isn’t already familiar with the New Genesis gods and Apokalips + his legions. I love that by the end, more DC characters have been folded in and Barda also decides to tag along with Scott. Curious how this new child factors into any of the long term plans for this series going forward.

I am exhausted. I read this too late, and I can’t believe I’m squeaking into 150 reads before 2025 comes to a close. Really hoping 2026 brings with it enough energy to get back to reading more novels even if I don’t cut back terribly on how many TPBs I read again next year.

Happy New Year!

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the depictions of Scott, Barda, and Orion, and the relationship between them all. Metron's role as prophet and sort-of-friend to all sides is interesting to witness.

That said, this book isn't quite landing for me. Partly, the long, uninteresting background of Nyctar or whatever really killed the book's momentum quite early. Secondly, it's somehow both very slow unfolding - we're six issues in and we've just found this New God kid on Earth (Yes, Apokolips has fallen and New Genesis is close to it, but that stuff has been mostly off-page) - and somehow entirely too fast, as Orion asks Scott to hide the kid from him and then shows up literally within pages of Scott finding the kid, so the "hide the kid" notion is just completely pointless.

Debating if I'll read more. Perhaps I'll just pull Ngozi Ukazu's BARDA off the shelf for a reread.

[Nathanael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Darkseid "died" last year during the wake of Absolute Power, so here we get to see what happens to the New Gods when their eternal enemy is gone. Predictably, a new enemy shows up.

I loved the art and Scott Free and Barda being domestic in the middle of crazy comics antics is always a plus for me. I was not as into the storyline, which seems like a fairly standard tale of the new never-before-heard-of Big Bad appearing, someone gets the Worf treatment to prove how badass he is, and the main authority figure turns out to have some kind of shady secret tied to the backstory of the BB. Not exactly breaking new ground here.

Still it's a fairly quick read and entertaining enough to make it worth picking up.

[Dexter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Das ist einfach Wahnsinn. Exzellent. Große Kunst. Die 12-teilige Miniserie, die auf Deutsch in 2 Bänden erscheint und von der hier der erste vorliegt.

Ram V ist ein begnadeter Erzähler, vielleicht nicht bei jeder Figur und in jedem Setting. Aber das hier, die NEW GODS, ist sein Element. Jede Story der ersten 6 in diesem Band gesammelten Hefte, ist zweigeteilt. Sie beginnt immer mit einer Art Vor- oder Nebengeschichte (meist zwischen 6-8 Seiten lang) von Ram V geschrieben, aber von immer wechselnden Zeichnern und Tuschern in Szene gesetzt. Die Hauptstpry allerdings wird von Evan Cagle gezeichnet, den ich hier zum ersten Mal erleben darf. Seine Zeichnungen sind Kunstwerke, jedes Panel, jede Seite wunderschön.

Alles in allem für mich eine DER Miniserien dieses Jahres.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't sparked to much of Ram V's work, so I found this surprisingly good.

Oh, there's still an abstractness to it that holds the reader back from the story. But it seems to work better on The New Gods than most other titles. That abstractness/distance is limited to our storyline on New Genesis, and there's all kinds of interesting detail there on old gods and new threats that really builds out the Fourth World in a way that most others haven't.

And we also get some much tighter connection to a Mr. Miracle storyline. (It almost feels like two books in one, they're so different.)

If I had a complaint it's mainly that the story abruptly stops at the end!

[Andrew Garvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed this collection, I also had very little idea of what was going on most of the way, or who more or less anyone outside Mr Miracle and Barda were, or what their story is. Or what their powers are. It's not exactly an easy jumping on point for the New Gods (I know Jack Kirby's basic concept of them but have never read any) and the sheer variety of artists who worked on these six issues doesn't always help as the lack of consistency in character looks just made things worse. Still, there's plenty of action and I think I'd mostly worked it all out before the end, certainly well enough to look forward to the next volume.

[Micah Steele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m intensely interested in how this story continues. It juggles so many story threads and characters masterfully!

As someone who has never read the new gods this introduces characters in stride while remaining engaging and informative enough, leaving plenty unknown.

The story of the source, the darkness, the three old gods and how the Nyctari are being used by the darkness, how the black racer in the space in between(the waiturnum) is taken by the darkness but frees themself to give lightray to the source for resurrection. The justice league interceding at the end. So many story beats to follow and all equally anticipated!!

All the artists knocked it out of the park!!

[Seth Grindstaff · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read these as singles.

I enjoyed the first issue, but after that...well, I feel like the story is a bunch of loose ends and pieces. It's like Ram V tried to make a quilt but made a postmodern blanket instead. It doesn't keep me warm or cover me.

I enjoy that he wrote a few storylines going on at the same time, but they don't interact enough for me, not on a symbolic level at least.

I know no more about the characters after issue 12 than I did after issue 1. I'll be trading these in for sure.

I don't even have the will to re-read them all together. There are too many good comics to read for the first time instead.

The art is enjoyable.

[Fraser Simons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn, what a wild ride. I don’t know any of these characters new god characters, but it certainly feels interesting, novel, and just weird—in a good way! It kind of feels like The Eternals, in that they’re in existing lore but most people don’t know much, if anything, about them? Though, I’m not well read on the DC side of things, so maybe it’s just me.

Either way, it’s got some of the best art I’ve seen this year, and the story has a great conceit and unfolds its origins in bite-sized bits throughout. As always, some of the DC character designs feel pretty… silly… but that’s easy enough to ignore.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Darkseid died a year or so ago in the All-In Special that created the Absolute universe. Apparently that's created an imbalance that threatens the New Gods. Mr. Miracle and Barda have been tasked with finding a baby that could threaten Highfather, I guess. There's some prophecy and I found Ram V's narration flowery without telling you a lot. Meanwhile DC's version of Gorr the God-Butcher is tearing up Apocalypse and New Genesis. I have a feeling this may read better when all 12 issues have come out.

[Aliyu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The new gods are in trouble and their world is forever changed.

This story is great and a lot of fun so far. It can be a little confusing at times but it’s still very engaging. In my opinion, this is probably Ram V’s best work to date and you can really feel his passion for these characters in the writing. That said, the art really is the star of the show here it completely steals the show. From top to bottom, it’s absolutely incredible and every single artist involved deserves serious praise without a doubt.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a difficult time understanding what was going on in this one and found myself flipping back and forth a lot. I’ve read the fourth world a few times so presumably I have enough background to understand the characters here but otherwise I found myself lost quite a bit. The story starts off really well, but quickly becomes more complex. This book is pretty unapproachable to a new reader without knowledge of basically all of the DC universe and most especially everything in Kirby’s fourth world saga. The art however is really good.

[Greg Trosclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed this kind of out there take on the New Gods. It is not as altruistic as Kirby's take but it has a lot of the other elements that played in the original series. Beautiful artwork, a different take on a godlike pantheon than traditional comics. It is a solid book. It will not be for every superhero comic reader.

[Clint · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ram V teams up with a few of his best artist collaborators to tell the beginning of a visually striking Fourth World story that’s fittingly mythic and cosmic in tone, but also grounded in moving existential allegory on a human scale. This is very much just a part one to a larger story, but it’s one I can’t wait to follow up on.

[carol ⋆.˚ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Great art, interesting world building. And it was nice to see Scott and Barda again.

I'm not giving this four stars because it felt kinda overwhelming at times, there were too many ideas and I feel that the addition of the justice league is going to make this into a problem, unless is just a cameo.

This is my first time reading Ram V and I can see why people like his work.