New Gods #1
B. Radtz
Recap
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 con?ict. On Earth, Scott Free and Barda ?nd themselves unaware of this incoming chaos while consumed with their most daunting task yet: parenthood. Ram V and Evan Cagle 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!
Review
Fresh off of the death of Darkseid, a new Great Darkness has been foretold. From the ashes of Amaxazu’s corpse the Universe was born, rich with the energy of the Source. One of DC’s most esoteric properties has finally given us a new book by superstar comics scribe, Ram V, with breathtaking visuals by Evan Cagle, which I can only describe as breathtaking. So let’s be on our way!
From Catwoman, to Justice League Dark, to Detective Comics, to Swamp Thing, Ram V has become one of those authors I will follow to almost any property that he’s attached to, but having him relaunch the New Gods, a property that Jack the King Kirby created after he left Marvel. It’s a property that’s as much sci-fi as it is a Homeric mythological odyssey that revolves around Highfather, the enigmatic Metron, Lightray, Mister Miracle, the former Female Fury Big Barda, and Orion, the dog of war. While those listed aren’t characters that the general public knows, it is the dark shadow of Darkseid, and the residents of Apokolips, like Granny Goodness, Desaad, the Female Furies, and the Parademons, because of their appearances in the greater DCU. But thanks to the events of Absolute Power, they’re currently off the table, so what’s Ram and Evan going to do?
The book starts with the Highfather taking stock of the current universe after the events of Absolute Power, and there’s a very big vacuum left in the universe now that Darkseid’s gone, when Metron arrives and gives Highfather a prophecy that he received from the Source. There is a new New God about to be born on Earth, and there is something about this child that bodes ill for the universe, and the Highfather contacts Orion to do the unthinkable. Orion goes to Earth, and his first act is to go to the home of his adopted brother, Mister Miracle, who is busy taking care of his newborn daughter, while his wife, Big Barda sleeps on the couch. Orion comes to his brother to stop him from completing his mission from Highfather: save the new born New God before Orion can find him, and kill him.
Ram V’s Fourth World looks to be a wild romp through the DC Universe, mining some gravitas out of these characters that, despite much of the mythology is a tabula rasa, waiting for an author of V’s caliber to inject them with the vitality to make it work in today’s comics buying market. His making Highfather a more morally ambiguous entity, who closely resembles Odin or Zuras, as opposed to the god of pure light, and the complete opposite to Darkseid. This Highfather is willing to kill a baby, which seems out of character, but the foreshadowing in this issue is crazy. V is crafting a story that’s a lot of similarity with the Great Darkness Saga from the Legion of Superheroes by Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen, where Darkseid awakens in the future, and a new Highfather is born. If this is where V and Cagle is taking us, fans should be ready for one hell of a ride.
Final Thoughts
In a world where style over substance, Ram V is world building these characters in a way that’s very similar to how Kieron Gillen did with the Eternals at Marvel a few years ago. The story looks to give us a more rounded take on some of these Kirby creations that we don’t see a lot of, like Lightray, while building up a mythic epic to rock New Genesis.
New Gods #1: The Source Wall is the source of course…
- Writing - 9.5/109.5/10
- Storyline - 9.5/109.5/10
- Art - 9/109/10
- Color - 9/109/10
- Cover Art - 9/109/10
