New Gods: Part 2

by Jack Kirby

In years past, Darkseid manipulated the dystopian planet of Apokolips into war by having his uncle Steppenwolf murder the wife of Izaya of New Genesis, beginning a devastating conflict between the two planets


Originally NEW GODS #7-11 Mar-Nov 1972

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics

Hardcover

About the author

Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg) was one of the most influential, recognizable, and prolific artists in American comic books, and the co-creator of such enduring characters and popular culture icons as the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Hulk, Captain America, and hundreds of others stretching back to the earliest days of the medium. He was also a comic book writer and editor. His most common nickname is "The King."

Reviews

[Dominick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I feel a bit bad saying this, but I'm glad I didn't spend money on this book. The narrative is, if anything, even less coherent than it was in volume 1. Characters who seemed as if they were going to be important simply disappear--Metron, for instance, or half of Orion's human assistants. The Black Racer eventually shows up again, briefly and pointlessly, at least insofar as the series as it exists is concerned. Kirby may have had big, ambitious plans, but one must judge what we have, not what might have been, and this is a lot--A LOT--of sound and fury ultimately signifying ... not much. Kirby's big, blocky art can still be dynamic and exciting to look at, but either he was losing his inspiration, drawing too many pages a month (I think he must have been cranking out more than 40 pages a month at this time , across different titles), badly inked, or badly restored for this collection, because a lot of the art looks, frankly, crappy. Impossible physical contortions are the norm for Kirby, but here, more than one face looks more than a bit slapdash--asymmetrical, disproportioned, with mismatched eyes, etc. The Boy Commandos story that appears at the end as a bonus actually does the primary material a disservice because, though the art lacks that distinctive Kirby hyperbolic dynamism, it also seems more carefully-designed, rendered, and detailed. As for the dialogue, well, let's just say it doesn't get any better. Also, I'm dinging this volume for not bothering to reprint the covers. Again, there's a lot of expressive and exciting imagery here, if one doesn't look too closely for its infelicities, but not much in the way of coherent plot or characterization. We get a lot of third-person bombast, weird phrasing, and super-simplified moral/ethical moaning. Meh. How anyone can read this Kirby solo material and not recognize that Stan Lee did bring something to the table (though a lot less than he typically claimed) baffles me.

[Angelina Titeryakova · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5