Orion by Walter Simonson Omnibus

Orion (2000) #1-25

by Walter Simonson

In 2000, legendary writer/artist Walter Simonson, best known for his work on DC's Manhunter and Marvels' Thor, treated comics fans to his vision of Jack Kirby's Fourth World mythology. At the center of the series was the conflict between Orion, born on the violent world of Apokolips but raised on peaceful New Genesis, and his father, Darkseid, ruler of Apokolips. Focusing on the clash between father and son, the series features most of the Fourth World heroes and villains created by Jack Kirby, as Darkseid seeks the deadly anti-life equation - and Orion battles to stop him from eradicating life as we know it!
This title also includes short stories written by Simonson and illustrated by Frank Miller, Dave Gibbons, Howard Chaykin, Jim Lee and others.


Collects ORION #1-25 and stories from JACK KIRBY'S FOURTH WORLD #9-11 and 13.

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

752 pages, Hardcover

First published March 31, 2015

About the author

Walt Simonson is an American comic book writer and artist, best known for a run on Marvel Comics' Thor from 1983 to 1987, during which he created the character Beta Ray Bill. He is also known for the creator-owned work Star Slammers, which he inaugurated in 1972 as a Rhode Island School of Design thesis. He has also worked on other Marvel titles such as X-Factor and Fantastic Four, on DC Comics books including Detective Comics, Manhunter, Metal Men and Orion, and on licensed properties such as Star Wars, Alien, Battlestar Galactica and Robocop vs. Terminator.

He is married to comics writer Louise Simonson, with whom he collaborated as penciller on X-Factor from 1988 to 1989, and with whom he made a cameo appearance in the 2011 Thor feature film.

Reviews

[Bookwraiths]

DNF. I can't get into this right now. Perhaps another time.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Walter Simonson is probably the only one other than Jack Kirby himself to really get the New Gods, so it's really a pleasure to have his New Gods stories in print*, and even in a nice hardcover collection.

How does Simonson get the New Gods? In part it's his artwork, which is beautifully Kirbyesque, but the story that consumes the first 18 issues of this volume feel very true to Kirby's spirt: Orion finally fights against Darkseid in the Firepits, then rises up to greater heights, then faces the deepest depths beneath the Fourth World. It's an epic story of rise and fall with tragedy and failings that's great as a New Gods story.

The story that follows, where Orion on Earth faces Slig and then some immortal-seeking guy is much weaker. It is also the type of story one found in the original New Gods, with memorable mortal characters on Earth, but Simonson just doesn't find the spark in normalcy that Kirby did. Fortunately, he redeems himself in his final issue with a team up between Scot Free and Orion.

* The only regret about this volume is that DC stupidly separated the backup stories from the main stories they accompanied. (As usual, their collections department sucks.) This is fine for many of the shorts, and could have created a fine appendix, but some are directly related to, the main story, leaving the backups pretty meaningless without them (and in one case, confusing the main story). The Orion by Walter Simonson TPB collections now coming out might thus be a better choice for this series, since they do it right, but knowing the problem, I decided I wanted the omnibus anyway.

Everything else is lesser, but it'd still be nice to have the rest of the New God series in similar omnibus, maybe starting with the New Gods v4 and Jack Kirby's Fourth World series, all by John Byrne, that immediately preceded this?

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think I hidden the fact that I'm a Jack Kirby fan, and that as a kid his Fourth World at DC left a huge impression on me (New God-The Pact remains one of my favorite single issue comics), nor do I deny that he seemed to burnout between issues 6-12 on any title he both wrote and drew.

Most creators somehow just don't seem to get his work, especially The New Gods.

Then there's Walt Simonson. If there is anyone who can out Kirby Kirby it is Simonson. He does so here, creating just a few minor supporting characters, dealing with the crap DC made him deal with (Taikon, a Joker Last Luagh crossover issue), and you know what? He handles it all so well that for the most part this read like a series totally outside the DCU.

Add to that Simonson manages the difficult task and taking Orion, a character I've always liked, and making him almost three dimensional. Let's face it most writers keep Orion at the two-dimensional level, sometimes even as comic relief. No we see an Orion that begins as driven to fulfill what he sees as his destiny, makes mistakes (huge ones) and then seek and find redemption.

If you enjoy cosmic comics (because Simonson does go BIG for part of this tale) then this title is for you. I also recommend that you try his runs on Thor (so much better then the second Thor movie which draws heavily from his work), Fantasic Four, and his outstanding run with Archie Goodwin on Manhunter. Unfortunately I've never liked his Star Slammers as much as I want to.

[Baal Of · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book takes me back to the days when I was kid, secretly reading any superhero comic books I could get my hands on, never owning them myself because my parents didn't approve of such nonsense. I loved Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer, and then later The X-Men, and in my memory they were wildly imaginative, even bizarre and I didn't care whether things made sense, I just loved the gloriously garish strangeness of the worlds. This book contains the elements of those memories, with huge beings walking among planets and others trapped in massive cosmic walls at the edges of the universe. The gods are overgrown human proxies (so yeah, gods) fighting for power, scheming, and holding grandiose and absurd plans for universal domination. All of that was fun to read, as long as I remembered to turn off my critical side. Some of the details were pretty silly. Boom tubes are goofily named, no matter their usefulness. And the inclusion of the stupid Newsboy Legion was dumb, and would have been better excised from the entire book, but I'm sure there was some fanboy service reason for their presence. The artwork is classic superhero fare, with camera angles emphasizing action and motion, and the backgrounds, especially those in space are in the cosmic style that is unrealistic, but somehow suitable for this kind of fantasy. The last 150 pages or so were backup stories that were mostly just filler, not holding up to the quality of the main event, but a couple gave some nice background on some of the new gods.

[Michael Giuliano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I'd bump this to 3.5/almost 4 stars. My first real exposure to the New Gods of the DC universe, and Simonson ddnt make things too confusing (for which I am grateful). Wish it didn't end on such a cliffhamger, though! And now I'm excited (and maybe a little more prepared) to dig into Jack Kirby's Fourth World stuff.

[ComicNerdSam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super great to see Simonson given the chance to make a nearly direct sequel to a comic made by his idol. It's also great to see him bring his friends along for the ride. This book has some of the best action in comics, and Simonson brings his signature designer eye to his page layouts. It's not only his art that makes this great though, his writing is also top notch in this. Simonson understands Orion's character completely and it's super enjoyable to watch him make mistakes and learn from them. I firmly believe that Simonson was the second coming of Kirby.

[Albert · Rating 2 out of 5]

I continuously compared this omnibus to Simonson's work on Thor, which I probably shouldn't have done. The storyline for the whole ORION saga was okay. There are pages where the word balloons are so packed with narrative - a trait that I often see in new comic book writers. The story lines that take place in Apokolips were great (one took place in Metropolis, found it to be a bore).

I was willing to ignore the writing's shortcomings and enjoy the artwork. SIMONSON DELIVERS. The inking job by Wiacek was average --- does not have the same effect when Simonson inks his own work (like in Thor).

Overall, if you enjoy Kirby's Fourth World, this is not a bad collection to check out or own.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Orion Omnibus is a beautifully bound and printed volume that is terribly organized. I also found Simonson’s writing more lopsided than I have in the past (with his Thor Omnibus, Star Slammers, and Ragnarok). It also works way better if you’ve read Jack Kirby's The Fourth World Omnibus , at least the non-Jimmy Olsen stuff. I haven’t read the John Byrne New Gods stuff, and aside from the Highfather stuff, it seemed fine. I’m planning to read it once I get the omnibus.

I’ve organized my review into rough arcs with page numbers because DC stupidly put all the backups at the end when they provide context for the story. Thus, reading this requires two bookmarks. Here is my recommended reading order:

Tales of the New Gods
p. 553-563 “The Wall of Souls” with Jose Garcia-Lopez 3.5 Stars
This is a cool introduction to Metron and the Source Wall, which has changed a bit since the Jack Kirby era. The art is a bit 90s, though I can’t actually tell where this is from.
p. 564-572 “A Highfather Christmas” 3.5 Stars
It’s a cute Christmas story that gives a little context for Highfather in the actual Orion series if you read it first, hence I recommend reading it first.
p. 573-619 “School Days” & “Lesson One” & “Lesson Two” & “Final Exam” 3 Stars
It’s an origin for Kanto the Assassin, and I found it somewhat cliche. Also, Kanto isn’t a big player in the rest of the series.
p. 682-688 “Infinitely Gentle Infinitely Suffering” & “The Origin of Desaad” 2 Stars
These two stories are kind of added onto the end of the collection, and I guess they’re fine, just difficult to place. I also don’t like the portrayal of Granny Goodness in the first one.

Orion vs. Darkseid 4 Stars
p. 6-67 “O Beautiful for Spacious Skies…” & “...For Amber Waves of Grain!” & “For Purple Mountain Majesties…”
p. 620-623 “Nativity” with Frank Miller
p. 68-85 “Above the Fruited Plain…”
p. 624-628 “Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down” with Dave Gibbons
p. 86-108 “Day of Wrath”
This series has an excellent start and introduces the concept of the anti-life equation that will drive much of the series. It also places Orion in a very human place by being caught between two worlds and rediscovering his mother. For those that have not read the Jack Kirby series, the inclusion of the Newsboy Legion may be confusing, but I think they’re fine with maybe a little too much page time. There’s also the Billion Dollar Bates stuff, which is another reference that I think having the context for helps the reader understand this. Some may not like Simonson’s style, but I love his expressive use of space. I’ve always said he does epic well, and the battle between Orion and Darkseid is peak Simonson.

King Orion 4.5 Stars
p. 109-126 “The King is Dead…Long Live the King!”
p. 627-633 “The Perfect Servant” with Eric Larsen
p. 127-144 “Tough Love!”
p. 634-638 “Death and His Brother” with Howard Chaykin
p. 145-163 “The Righteous Treacheries of Desaad! Or Orion Rules!”
p. 639-643 “Deadend” with Jeph Loeb & Rob Liefeld
p. 164-204 “The Electro Death of Honor” & “Sirius Business! Or Dog is God Spelled Backwards!”
p. 644-649 “Light!” with Art Adams
p. 205-228 “Orion Rules”
I’ll admit to bumping this score up for the Sirius arc alone. I think “Light!” might be my favorite story in this collection. Having written Thor for Marvel, Simonson remembers the old gods and brings them back. It’s not just in reference to Thor’s power belt that Kalibak gets, but the old gods are still present. It’s also here that we see Orion fall and how his warrior mentality can be twisted. I wish Mortalla was used better because she gets a great introduction and is rather forgotten about through the next couple issues.

Ordering Everything 4 Stars
p. 227-246 “The Ordering of Apokolips”
p. 650-654 “The Garden” with Jim Lee
p. 247-264 “The Ordering of Earth!”
p. 655-659 “The Arming of Apokolips”
p. 265-284 “The Ordering of the Cosmos!”
p. 660-663 “Frankenstein’s Legacy”
p. 285-315 “At the Edge of the Abyss”
p. 664-671 “Greater Than/Lesser Than” with Kevin McCarthy & John Paul Leon
Orion’s fall. I actually really like the anticlimax, and I think the Black Racer stuff pays off nicely. For those just reading this, the Black Racer is essentially the personification of death for the New Gods. Much of this arc is showing the horror of the Antilife equation, and I think that’s neat. Seeing the slow fall of everyone, even the Justice League and the New Gods, is cool.

The Abyss 3.5 Stars
p. 316-380 “The Abyssal Plane!” & “Being and Nothingness” & “The Return of the Prodigal!”
p. 672-676 “A Good Servant” with Al Milgrom
The imagery is great, but the story seems contrived. Gotta depower? I guess I prefer it being an epic struggle with a random cosmic horror.

Smiling Slig 2.5 Stars
p. 381-397 “Laugh and the World Laughs With You!”
p. 677-681 “The Art of the Deal” with Eddie Campbell
p. 398-420 “None Are So Blind”
I’ve never been a fan of Slig, and I don’t think adding Joker fish elevates him. It sets up the next arc, but I’m not a big fan.

Intergang 3 Stars
p. 421-513 “The Lightless Path” & “And a Child Shall Lead Him…!” & “The Walls of Jericho…!” & “The Eyes of the Hunter”
I’ll admit to not being a fan of the child stuff; however, it does lead into some cool time travel that is necessary for the end of the book. The last issue really saves this section.

Children of the Pact 4 Stars
p. 514-552 “Children of the Pact”
The final issue strongly reflects Jack Kirby’s The Hunger Dogs graphic novel, but I think the core of the brothers’ relationship is great. I wish it had been more present throughout, but the pair have always had a strained relationship. It is a nice, if understated end to the series.

Overall, despite the end being less good, I do think this is a great read, especially for a 90s comic. Simonson is one of my favorites, and always delivers on the high epic comic action.

Other Comics Reviews
Challengers of the Unknown
Jack Kirby’s The Fourth World Omnibus
Batman by Neal Adams Omnibus
Roots of the Swamp Thing
Power Girl: Power Trip
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
Detective Comics: 80 Years of Batman: The Deluxe Edition

[Devero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un omnibus notevole sotto molti punti di vista.
Partiamo dal personaggio: Kirby lo ha creato e ne ha sviluppato il carattere. Dopo di lui altri lo hanno rimaneggiato, più o meno bene. O meglio, a parte qualcosa di Byrne, tutti lo hanno rimaneggiato male. Finalmente Simonson ridà ad Orion lo stato che gli spetta nella mitologia DC, sviluppando quanto fatto da Kirby e portando a degna conclusione le trame della visione del Quarto Mondo che Byrne aveva fornito poco tempo prima che Orion diventasse titolare della sua testata regolare.
Orion è sì feroce e determinato col nemico, ma mai crudele, perché è ben conscio di avere il sangue di Darkseid ma l'educazione di Nuova Genesi.
I comprimari sono diversi, tutti ben tratteggiati e trattati, partendo da Darkseid e Desaad fino ad arrivare a Mortalla e Justine, passando per la maggior parte dei personaggi del Quarto Mondo compresa la Newsboy Legion, Jimmy Olsen e con una rapida comparsata la Justice League e Shazam.
I disegni sono sempre ottimi, è un Walt Simonson ai vertici dell'arte quello che vediamo all'opera, tranne un paiod i storie disegnate da Byrne. Inoltre ci sono tutte le storie d'appendice alla collana disegnate da ospiti quali Art Adams, Byrne e tanti altri. Ecco, non tutte queste storie in appendice sono ben riuscite, ma tutte sono interessanti.

Poi c'è la storia. All'inizio buona ma un poco impacciata, decolla veramente dopo che Orion sconfigge suo padre! Tutta la parte con l'equazione anti-vita, il piano abissale, l'Ekruos e il successivo accecamento di Orion, seguito dal finale con Mr. Miracle sono una grande saga ben congeniata. Unica pecca l'obbligatorio crossover dell'anno con Joker, decisamente sottotono rispetto al resto.

4 stelle e mezzo

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic comic run here. It really manages to feel so much like a 70s comic despite coming out 30 years later. From the choice of colours, to the framing of the panels, to the narration style, to the use of thought bubbles etc. so many hallmarks of that era’s style can be felt in this comic.

Incredibly thematically driven, manages to build on stuff introduced in Jack Kirby’s original run in a fantastic way. It builds up the story in issues 1-16 and then reframes it fantastically in the final 9 issues to come to a really satisfying solution. Orion is a very complex character and this comic manages to explore him with the depth that he deserves. It also managed to shed light on so many other Fourth World characters, the Scott Free stuff in particular was excellent. The comic touches on power and abuse of power, on family and father-son relationships, and on the capacity for good and evil and what it means to be “bad” all in such fascinating ways.

The art is also fantastic. It’s very stylised and isn’t afraid to shed realism for what will tell a good story. It definitely seemed to get better and better with each issue and the stuff with the tree of life was particularly memorable, as was that one scene where Lightray frees Orion later on in the comic.

I want to give a special shout-out to the issue 23, the stuff between Orion and Melissa in that issue was heart-wrenchingly well-written. You really see Orion’s character development pay off and I did almost shed a tear at the end.

Definitely a must-read for anyone interested in the Fourth World and also worth checking out anyway for the sheer excellence of character and theme writing inside. I have opinions on Darkseid now!!! I thought that would never happen.

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

while not simonson's greatest narrative work (that would be his run on thor) or up there with his best weird tongue-in-cheek stuff (avengers 291-300, fantastic four 334-354), his work with jack kirby's orion character might be the best art we've ever seen from him (which is saying a lot). it's both an homage to kirby's universe and something greater, with the various shorts illustrated by the likes of jim lee, rob liefeld, howard chaykin, and eddie campbell supplying necessary color for main stories that at times can feel rushed or merely there for the sake of letting simonson draw as many new gods and dc people as possible (not that there's anything wrong with that: the newsboy legion, captain marvel, et al. all look great). the pacing truly is disjointed - some sequences are great, fresh even by 2024 standards (the opening in nebraska has shades of tom king's later work with scott free, for good or ill (mostly ill in king's case; i'm not a big fan, though i get what he's going far), while others are simultaneously epic and wrapped in a few pages. quibbles aside, this is a fine example of "bandes dessinées pour bandes dessinées" or some such thing. highly recommended if you're into square jaws, big fists, and john workman's lettering prowess.

[Mark Schlatter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved Simonson's Thor run, but this collection, while it has a similar emphasis on the cosmic, just didn't do it for me. Part of that is due to my general sense of "whatever' about Jack Kirby's Fourth World. I have liked some Mister Miracle, and Darkseid often makes a good antagonist, but the concepts as a whole seemed too serious. (While I'm not a fan of Stan Lee the businessperson, I really have only appreciated Kirby's work when paired with Lee's lighter scripting.)

But the other problem I have with this series is that Orion is about as dark as you can go with a protagonist in Kirby's Fourth World, and Simonson leans hard on the nihilistic tendencies and senseless violence. There are a few lighter touches in some backup stories, and the 25 issue run ends up brighter than I expected, but overall I don't recommend this.

I reread this to see if it's staying in my collection; it isn't.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Orion is perhaps my favorite series ever published by DC or Marvel Comics. Walter Simonson - through the explosiveness of his artwork and amazing sense of design and scale, coupled with the majestic sweep of his purple prose - crafted a true epic, the tale of a great god tempted by the ultimate fruit, and finding himself unworthy. Orion's ascension, fall, and redemption are presented with a mythological impact and scale that few comic book creators have ever mustered. The series' finale "Children of the Pact" stands out as one of the best tales to compare and contrast the two central heroic figures of the Fourth World saga.

This book's only failing is DC's peculiar decision to reprint the Orion back-up stories after the main story, despite their importance to the main story in setting up characters and establishing thematic arcs.

[Makoto S · Rating 4 out of 5]

i have some single issues (very scattered, but accepted that's how it is) and rest of them online.
there aren't that many non-Kirby Fourth World material that people seem to like, and this one seems to be liked by a lot of people so i gave it a chance. i LOVE walt's art so i was very happy to read this.
this actually might be the best example of how his writing and art gels together into this great, cohesive comic. his style is bombastic, channeling the Kirby vibe. but brings in enough other sci-fi influences and mythological stuff (Walt loves mythology, evident by the fact that he did Ragnarok). but he doesn't forget the sillier side of Kirby and older comic too, like News Boy Legion etc. though some of felt a bit too short and felt a bit undercooked, overall this is great big 2 comic. a bit sad this isnt talked about in the "best superhero comic" convo because it should be.

[Chuck Ventura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Epic af.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little disappointed in this one, but that may have been because it ended in a ton of short stories with varying quality.

[Aidan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most comic booky comic I’ve ever read. Cool that Simonson added 2 new women to the New Gods, unfortunate that neither wear pants.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each decade tries to reinvent/modernize the New Gods (but never break through to the Fifth World.

The early 70s was the Kirby Invention
The late 70s where Gerry Conway
The early 80s was The Hunger Dogs and Legends
The Late 80s was Mark Evanier and Cosmic Odyssey (Starlin)
The Early 90s had the Tom Peyer/Rachel Pollack New Gods
The Late 90s had John Byrne's Fourth World
The Early naughties had Walt Simonson's New Gods
The Last naughties had Death of the New Gods and Final Crisis

This is probably the BEST attempt since Kirby left the Fourth World to it's own devices.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I dare say it; better than Kirby!

What Kirby did was great. Thanks to his mind for inventing this mythology sandbox. But -to me-fourth world by Kirby feels dated and not as streamlined. It's great, but didn't age well. Here Simonson made a more refined version of what Kirby started but somehow kept it feeling in step with Kirbys vision. I had a lot of fun reading this!

Recommended

[Kyle Burley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only "New Gods" material, known to me, that's worthy to stand beside the ground-breaking work of Jack Kirby. Simonson's unique mixture of expressionistic illustration and bold design give this book a genuinely epic sweep that rivals Kirby's own pop-art mythopoesis.
Thrilling and beautiful.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is excellent. But it. Read it.

[John Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty good 3.5 stars.

[Reyel2107 · Rating 4 out of 5]

not Jack KIrby but a great fun !!!!

[Variaciones Enrojo]

Ómnibus con todo el Orion de Walter Simonson. Continúa el Jack Kirby's Fourth World de John Byrne.