Back Issue #104

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond! ™

June 2018

Superman, Jimmy Olsen, and New Gods characters TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

No.104 $8.95

FOURTH WORLD AFTER KIRBY J ack K i rb y ’ s Ne w Go ds in Comic s and M e d ia

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“Bronze Age Halloween!” The Swamp Thing revival of 1982, Swamp Thing in Hollywood, Phantom Stranger team-ups, KUPPERBERG & MIGNOLA’s Phantom Stranger miniseries, DC’s The Witching Hour, the Living Mummy, and an index of Marvel’s 1970s’ horror anthologies! Featuring the work of RICH BUCKLER, ANDY MANGELS, VAL MAYERIK, MARTIN PASKO, MICHAEL USLAN, TOM YEATES, and many more. Cover by YEATES.

“All-Captains Issue!” Bronze Age histories of Shazam! (Captain Marvel) and Captain Mar-Vell, Captain Carrot, Captain Storm and the Losers, Captain Universe, and Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers. Featuring C. C. BECK, PAT BRODERICK, JACK KIRBY, ELLIOT S. MAGGIN, BILL MANTLO, DON NEWTON, BOB OKSNER, SCOTT SHAW!, JIM STARLIN, ROY THOMAS, and more.

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“Creatures of the Night!” Moon Knight’s DOUG MOENCH and BILL SIENKIEWICZ in a Pro2Pro interview, Ghost Rider, Night Nurse, Eclipso in the Bronze Age, I…Vampire, interviews with Batman writer MIKE W. BARR and Marvel’s Nightcat, JACQUELINE TAVAREZ. Featuring work by BOB BUDIANSKY, J. M. DeMATTEIS, DAVE SIMONS, ROGER STERN, TOM SUTTON, JEAN THOMAS, and more.

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“Marvel Fanfare Issue!” Behind the scenes of the ‘80s anthology series with AL MILGROM, interviews and art by ARTHUR ADAMS, CHRIS CLAREMONT, DAVE COCKRUM, STEVE ENGLEHART, MICHAEL GOLDEN, ROGER McKENZIE, FRANK MILLER, DOUG MOENCH, ANN NOCENTI, GEORGE PÉREZ, MARSHALL ROGERS, PAUL SMITH, KEN STEACY, CHARLES VESS, and more! Cover by SANDY PLUNKETT and GLENN WHITMORE.

“Bird People!” Hawkman in the Bronze Age, JIM STARLIN’s Superman/Hawkgirl team-up, TIM TRUMAN’s Hawkworld, Hawk & Dove, Penguin history, Blue Falcon & Dynomutt, Condorman, and CHUCK DIXON and SCOTT McDANIEL’s Nightwing. With GERRY CONWAY, STEVE ENGLEHART, GREG GULER, RICHARD HOWELL, TONY ISABELLA, KARL KESEL, ROB LIEFELD, DENNY O’NEIL, and a GEORGE PÉREZ cover.

“DC in the ‘80s!” From the experimental to the fan faves: Behind-the-scenes looks at SECRET ORIGINS, ACTION COMICS WEEKLY, DC CHALLENGE, THRILLER, ELECTRIC WARRIOR, and SUN DEVILS. Featuring JIM BAIKIE, MARK EVANIER, DAN JURGENS, DOUG MOENCH, MARTIN PASKO, TREVOR VON EEDEN, and others!

Featuring a mind-numbing Nightwing cover

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“BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES’ 25th ANNIVERSARY!” Looks back at the influential cartoon series. Plus: episode guide, Harley Quinn history, DC’s Batman Adventures and Animated Universe comic books, and tribute to artist MIKE PAROBECK. Featuring KEVIN ALTIERI, RICK BURCHETT, PAUL DINI, GERARD JONES, MARTIN PASKO, DAN RIBA, TY TEMPLETON, BRUCE TIMM, and others! BRUCE TIMM cover!

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ROCK ’N’ ROLL COMICS! Flash Gordon star SAM J. JONES interview, KISS in comics, Marvel’s ALICE COOPER, T. Rex’s MARC BOLAN interviews STAN LEE, PAUL McCARTNEY, Charlton’s Partridge Family, David Cassidy, and Bobby Sherman comics, Marvel’s Steeltown Rockers, Monkees comics, & Comic-Con band Seduction of the Innocent.

With AMY CHU, JACK KIRBY, BILL MUMY, ALAN WEISS, and others!

MERCS AND ANTIHEROES! Deadpool’s ROB LIEFELD and FABIAN NICIEZA interviewed!

Histories of Cable, Taskmaster, Deathstroke the Terminator, the Vigilante, and Wild Dog, plus… Archie meets the Punisher?? Featuring TERRY BEATTY, MAX ALLAN COLLINS, PAUL KUPPERBERG, BATTON LASH, JEPH LOEB, DAVID MICHELINIE, MARV WOLFMAN, KEITH POLLARD, and others!

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ALL-STAR EDITORS ISSUE! Past and present editors reveal “How I Beat the Dreaded Deadline Doom”! Plus: ARCHIE GOODWIN and MARK GRUENWALD retrospectives, E. NELSON BRIDWELL interview, DIANA SCHUTZ interview, ALLAN ASHERMAN revisits DC’s ’70s editorial department, Marvel Assistant Editors’ Month, and a history of PERRY WHITE! With an unpublished 1981 Captain America cover by MIKE ZECK!

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Volume 1, Number 104 June 2018 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER ARTIST Steve Rude (Variant cover originally produced for DC Comics’ Covergence #5.

Original art scan courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions.)

COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADER Rob Smentek SPECIAL THANKS Karen Berger Karl Kesel Jerry Boyd Paul Kupperberg Alan Burnett James Heath Lantz Marc Buxton Paul Levitz John Byrne Brian Martin Gerry Conway Mike Mignola Paris Cullins John Morrow DC Comics Tom Peyer J. M. DeMatteis Joe Phillips Steve Englehart Rachel Pollack Mark Evanier Mark Reznicek Funky Flashman Steve Rude Grand Comics Walter Simonson Database Jim Starlin Larry Hama Roy Thomas Tim Hauser Bruce Timm Ben Herman James Tucker Heritage Comics Rick Veitch Auctions Rick Hoberg Dan Johnson Dan Jurgens

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BACKSEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 FLASHBACK: The Post–Kirby New Gods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 An exhaustive examination of the never-ending efforts to reboot the Fourth World BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: Darkseid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 A look inside the mind of the Tyrant of Apokolips THE TOY BOX: Jack Kirby, Super Powers Toy Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 The King’s designs for a Mister Miracle figure and an unproduced Darkseid playset FLASHBACK: Miracle Master: The Post–Kirby Mister Miracle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Why can’t the World’s Greatest Escape Artist escape cancellation?

FLASHBACK: The Forever People Miniseries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 Kirby’s super-hippies become super-yuppies in this DeMatteis/Cullins/Kesel mini ART GALLERY: Forever Your Girl: Beautiful Dreamer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 A superstar-powered lineup of sketches of the Forever People’s fetching flower child BACKSTAGE PASS: The Animated New Gods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 The Fourth World, as seen on TV and in direct-to-video cartoons GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: The New Gods Animated Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 The story of the full-length animated epic intended for the big screen BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78 Reader reactions BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 118 Edgewood Avenue NE, Concord, NC 28025. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Eight-issue subscriptions: $76 Standard US, $125 International, $32 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Steve Rude. Superman, Jimmy Olsen, the New Gods, and related characters TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2018 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 1

by M

ichael Eury

In 1970, the Bronze Age of Comics was in ascendance. A new burst of Kirby didn’t just land at DC—he detonated an explosion of creative creativity was enlivening the spin racks and newsstands. It started on energy whose fallout, we now know, has yet to dissipate. He introduced February 24, 1970, with the release of Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams’ his so-called Fourth World on August 25, 1970 in—of all places!—the landmark Green Lantern #76, pairing the titular, conservative space cop pages of Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133. This saga soon expanded with the bleeding-heart liberal, modern-day Robin Hood, Green Arrow, throughout three new titles: The Forever People, The New Gods, and for the first of a series of socially relevant adventures. Soon, on July Mister Miracle. As his one-time assistant Mark Evanier has frequently written, Kirby’s plan at DC 21st, Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith’s Conan the was to create concepts to Barbarian #1 was released, pass off to other writers and and while it took a while artists, under his supervision. to find an audience, Conan Corporate pressure, howheralded a new era of ever, kept Jack anchored dynamism that quaked the to his four fantastic titles. business to its core. Around Those books ultimately had short life spans and that time, Superman editor Mort Weisinger retired, Kirby moved on to other drawing to a close his dynasty projects… but the prescience that had previously defined not of comics’ greatest visionary only the Superman franchise once again rang true as but also DC Comics itself Kirby’s Fourth World titles throughout the Silver Age. (save Jimmy Olsen, a long-running DC book Times, they were a-changing’. which had reached its Yet, none of those signifexpiration date) were icant events could match the excitement engendered revived with other writers by a trio of words peppering and artists at the helm.

DC Comics titles: These are the series Jack “King” Kirby, from the 1971 one-shot Kirby Unleashed. © the Kirby estate.

“Kirby is coming!” we examine in this issue.

Jack “King” Kirby, principal among the architects of the Marvel While Jack Kirby did not oversee the myriad revivals of his Fourth Universe, was vacating the House of Ideas and establishing residency World books, he certainly—as you’ll read again and again in the at its “Distinguished Competition.” The tale of Kirby’s transition has pages following—inspired their creators. been oft told—in these pages, in TwoMorrows’ own tribute zine, The Jack Kirby Collector, and elsewhere—but it was about as big a news Very special thanks to BI reader Mark Reznicek for suggesting this issue’s theme. headline as any comic fan could imagine in ’70.

Jimmy Olsen, Forever People, New Gods, and Mister Miracle TM & © DC Comics.

2 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

“The great one is coming! The Boom Tube! So powerful in concept it’s almost terrifying!”

by B

rian Martin

Those words appeared in full-page ads in DC comic books dated August 1970. They were trumpeting the arrival of “the King.” Jack Kirby was coming to DC and bringing with him a number of concepts he had been holding back during his final days at Marvel.

The triumvirate of books that Kirby initiated, The Forever People, New Gods, and Mister Miracle, combined ® with him taking over the already-existing Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen, introduced a staggering number of concepts that have since become universally known as Kirby’s Fourth World.

The problem was, according to most sources, the books didn’t sell phenomenally. And books that don’t sell get canceled. [Editor’s note: After strong initial sales, Kirby’s titles commanded mid-range sales, but not the huge numbers that were expected due to the King’s Marvel profile.] Despite that, pretty much all of the characters, situations, and core concepts introduced in those books have been fixtures in the DC Universe ever since, and along with the original Kirby issues are viewed with almost universal reverence.

So when everyone loves the creations, it makes sense that people will use them and even try to revive them in standalone books. Again, though, it is pretty much the common belief that while a few have come close, no one has handled them as well as their creator.

Maybe the concepts are just too big, too…

“Kirby” for anyone else to get a grip on.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that over the years a lot of people haven’t tried!

THE LAST FIRST ISSUE

1st Issue Special was the brainchild of Carmine Infantino during his tenure as publisher of DC. The series was given the BACK ISSUE treatment in issue #71 in which Gerry Conway, who edited some of the series, explained its premise. gerry conway “Carmine came up with this rather brilliant notion that first issues sell better than subsequent issues, so why not put out a magazine that’s entirely first issues?” Though the concept did not fly in the ’70s, you have to wonder how it would have done in later years when first issues and appearances became all the rage.

With the 13th and final issue of that series (Apr. 1976), it was decided to try and revive the Kirby concept of the New Gods, but the impetus for that decision may have come from a very unlikely source. None other than Roy Thomas reveals, “Sometime soon after Kirby left DC entirely, Gerry Conway, then back at DC, said Carmine would love to meet with me. So the three of us got together briefly at DC. We talked about a lot of things, including Carmine’s desire to see me come over to DC, which I wasn’t ready to do just yet. Just to see if I could influence Carmine to do something, I told him that one

Kirby Kontinued 1st Issue Special #13 (Apr. 1976), featuring “The Return of the New Gods.” Cover by Dick Giordano.

TM & © DC Comics.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 3

Fourth World Revival (top) The New Gods, back in print. A Kirby-conjuring, bombastic Al Milgrom cover graced issue #12 (July 1977). (bottom) Return of the New Gods’ versatile penciler Don Newton (who was profiled way back in BACK ISSUE #19) was adept at both the tranquility of New Genesis (left) and the cosmic chaos of intergalactic warfare (right). Page 3 of New Gods #14 (Oct. 1977), inked by Dan Adkins, and page 4 of issue #16 (Feb. 1978), inked by Joe Rubinstein.

Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com).

TM & © DC Comics.

4 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

good thing about Kirby leaving was that now he was free to being back New Gods, etc., with a different writer/approach. Carmine sparked to the idea, and soon afterward the revival was published.”

Gerry Conway received the writing assignment for the issue with dialogue help from Denny O’Neil and art by Mike Vosburg. The story attempts to follow Kirby’s final issue, referencing events from it several times while also mentioning a truce that is surely intended to explain what the characters had been, or rather, had not been doing since the original series was canceled.

Most readers were probably a little shocked, though, as the characters seem to take a definite turn towards being portrayed as superheroes more than gods. There is no better indication of this than early in the issue when a pack of Parademons attack New Genesis and Highfather calls on Metron to create a Boom Tube to dispose of them. Later, the duo engages in some plotting together, certainly not things the scholarly character would have done under Kirby.

From there the story moves on to Orion tracking Darkseid. He first travels to Earth, where he battles Kalibak and Granny Goodness, then to Apokolips and a confrontation with Darkseid, which ends in a stalemate. Though it took a while, a later letters page did mention that the issue of FIS did “prompt” the full revival that followed.

OH GODS, BOOK II

That revival would follow beginning with a 12th issue, coverdated July 1977. The series was written by Conway with Don Newton as penciler for every issue except one, while continuing the numbering from the original series. So even though the title on the covers begins with “Return of…,” the series is still considered just New Gods in the ever-official indicia.

The move towards a superhero book is further exemplified within the first few pages of issue #12. Orion no longer requires his harness to fly or wield the Astro Force, and was refitted with a costume much more in line with the rest of the long-underwear set. He is leading a group from New Genesis to Apokolips, and any fan of the original series must immediately have done a double take. In the hands of his creator, except for his forays with friend Lightray, Orion generally confronted trouble alone, especially on those occasions when he ventured to his father’s home world.

Augmenting this assault force is, of course, Lightray, but also Kirby creations Lonar, Forager, and Metron.

Forager, also known as the Bug, is a member of a New Genesis subspecies held in dubious regard by Orion and others. Though treated as an equal here, subsequent writers would play up this cultural disparity in their work. Metron is again taking an active role in proceedings as is the norm in this edition.

Finally, a new character joins the cast in the person of Jezebelle of the Fiery Eyes, simply, “To get a woman in there so Big Barda was not the only female,” according to Gerry Conway.

Though she would play a large part in this series, subsequent writers have not utilized the blue-skinned female to any extent.

The changes to Orion and Metron had occurred in the FIS issue, but these first pages of the official revival truly let us know we are no longer following in Papa Kirby’s footsteps.

“If you are going to bring the New Gods back,” relates Conway, “and the previous version of it had not been commercially viable, it would be silly to do it the same way.

The Odd Coupling (top) Gerry Conway had the Flash and the New Gods join forces in Super-Team Family #15 (Mar.–Apr. 1978). Original art (courtesy of Heritage) to the issue’s final story page, penciled by Arvell Jones and inked by Romeo Tanghal. (Come back in two issues as Arvell Jones joins Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway for an All-Star Squadron Pro2Pro interview.) (inset) Its cover, by José Luís García-López. (bottom left) After the cancellation of The New Gods, the Fourth World saga continued briefly in Adventure Comics. Issue #459 (Sept.–Oct. 1978) cover by Jim Aparo. (bottom right) Lightray’s origin was revealed in 1978’s DC Special Series #10, featuring Secret Origins of Super-Heroes.

Cover by García-López.

TM & © DC Comics.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 5

“I was more of a superhero writer and thought more in terms of traditional superhero dynamics. So my instincts would have been to go more towards character-based superheroics where you have a group of people who are interacting with each other. You’re developing character and story from that angle rather than imposing a mythical structure on it the way that Jack did.”

Though skewed to the superhero side of things, from the very beginning the segments of the story are given an extra designation beginning with Chapter One, Part One and continuing in this vein until the story was completed with Chapter Six, Part Three. Conway feels, “When you do something that has multiple parts, it feels like there is a larger story going on. It was also in a certain sense a way to delineate this from the original run.” This structure was apt, as the series is one continuous narrative.

On their initial foray to Apokolips, the group from New Genesis discover that portions of the Anti-Life Equation (one of Darkseid’s major goals in Kirby’s books was its acquisition) are scattered and now reside in the minds of six Earthlings. Each New God is assigned to protect one of these people. To further the connection to the original run, the holders of the Equation include Dave Lincoln from that series as well as a doctor at the Project, which played a large part in the Jimmy Olsen stories.

The scattered Equation accommodates the fact that the group that journeyed to Apokolips was made up of six individuals. Through the course of the next few issues, the individual gods attempt to prevent Darkseid’s agents, both Kirby creations and new characters, from kidnapping the Earthlings, with varying degrees of success. Reprising Kirby’s seminal episode, “The Pact” (New Gods #7, Mar. 1972), in issue #15 a child of New Genesis is kidnapped while an Apokoliptian child is sent the other way. The confusion regarding this exchange allows Darkseid to kidnap one of the Equation-holders, killing Lonar in the process!

A number of battles occur in the next few issues between the two forces, as well as a story giving some history on Orion and Jezebelle.

But the crux of the tale occurs when Darkseid uses the one portion of the Equation he has to sever Highfather’s connection to the Source.

An end to the saga was near.

Issue #18 (June 1978) notes that it is the beginning of the six-chapter conclusion to the war. (Sometimes more than one chapter was presented in an issue, so there were not necessarily six issues remaining in the cycle.) By the end of the issue, Darkseid has captured all six holders of the Equation, and this leads him to believe he can penetrate the Source and learn the answers that have always eluded the gods. Conway stayed true to Kirby in presenting the Source as being basically the antithesis of the Anti-Life Equation, effectively the Life Equation.

Before approaching the Source, at the start of the following issue, Darkseid has Dessad personify the Equation in a creature called the Antagonist, who is dispatched to Earth. There the creature applies the Equation in the manner Kirby had conjectured as he robs those he encounters of their free will.

Chapter Four of the finale is presented in the final pages of issue #19 (July–Aug. 1978), after which the book was… canceled. In a similar vein to New Gods #11—Kirby’s last issue—just as the saga reaches a climax… the rug is pulled out from under it. You’d almost think someone up there didn’t want the story to be written!

Thankfully, this was not the case—two issues of Adventure Comics were used to finish off the story. That book had just become one of DC’s Dollar Comics so there was some room, plus the feature did not have to sell the book on its own. Still, there is the impression that the stories were tailored to fit the available pages and not the other way around.

A regular DC comic at the time featured 17 pages of story. Adventure #459 (Sept.–Oct. 1978) featured the New Gods for 15 pages, then #460, the concluding chapter of this epic saga, had… ten.

To further reinforce that view, the entire story is wrapped up neatly in the last three pages, wherein A) the Antagonist is defeated by Metron channeling the knowledge of the Anti-Life Equation through its human possessors; B) Orion throws Darkseid into the Source Wall, causing him to grow to colossal size; C) a Uni-Cannon on Apokolips destroys him; and D) his ashes rain down on the planet and the New Gods, except for Orion, rejoice. Surely not the space initially intended for the conclusion of such an epic story.

“When you are told, ‘We’re not going to publish this anymore, so tie it up,’ there’s an imperative to close down all the plots and subplots that you have going,” relates Conway to BACK ISSUE. As to any plans he had for the series had it not ended, “If this had been a regular ongoing series I would have found new challenges and new ways to keep Darkseid thwarted.”

DC certainly seemed to have confidence in the series for a while, though. Conway was also the author of two other stories around that time that served to reinforce the view of the characters he was presenting. Super-Team Family #15 (Mar.–Apr. 1978) teamed the New Gods with the Flash, while DC Special Series #10 (cover-dated 1978 and released in January of that year) featured an origin for Lightray.

Now, of course, these are gods, and Kirby had detailed the birth of their entire race, but Conway had the insight of realizing that few of the residents of New Genesis actually had any powers beyond their godhood and the story told how Lightray came by his.

Despite that attention, subsequent stories have pretty much ignored any events or relationships forged within this series, but at least at the time fans were not left hanging once again.

Crisis on New Genesis The New Gods drop in on the assembled JLA and JSA in Justice League of America #183 (Oct. 1980). Original art by Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin. Courtesy of Heritage.

TM & © DC Comics.

6 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

Fourth World Fun Time Kenner’s Super Powers action-figure line featured several Kirby-created characters, including these, and spawned a trio of comic-book miniseries.

Characters TM & © DC Comics.

THE NEW YORK TIMES SAID GOD IS DEAD

After the series ended, the characters lay mostly dormant.

It seems in the DCU it’s “Two strikes, you’re out.” Kirby’s godly approach had been followed by a superhero take and neither had set the world on fire. (Admittedly, Apokolips was already on fire…)

Gerry Conway used the characters again (and resurrected, then seemed to kill Darkseid) in one of the annual JLA/ JSA team-ups in Justice League #183–185 (Oct.–Dec. 1980), with the New Gods getting some exposure on the three covers, while Darkseid was the antagonist in the celebrated “The Great Darkness Saga” that ran in Legion of Super-Heroes #290–294 (Aug.–Dec. 1982). [Editor’s note: Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen discussed the Legion’s battle with Darkseid in BACK ISSUE #22, and the JLA/ JSA team-ups were explored in BI #82.]

Maybe in the end it took Kirby to make people stand up and notice again. After DC made plans to reprint his original run in 1984, they commissioned Kirby to finish his story.

Kirby wrote a new ending, but the powers-that-be had major problems with it, and though a long story was added to the final issue of the reprint series and was followed closely by The Hunger Dogs graphic novel, Kirby did not get to use the ending he wanted, and developments from these stories seemed to be promptly ignored continuity-wise, just like Conway’s denouement.

At the same time, the first series of the Kenner toy tie-in Super Powers came out with the final issue penciled by Kirby, who then penciled all of the second series. Darkseid and his minions play the part of the heavies in these stories.

Thus it seemed people began to believe in the gods again, and as we all know, belief is what deities thrive on.

I GUESS KIRBY’S BOOKS WERE THE COSMIC ILIAD?

Darkseid was used as the main instigator in Legends, the first post–Crisis crossover from DC, while in a tie-in story in the Superman books, Orion appeared. Around that time the New Gods also made an appearance in the Warlord book.

Cosmic Odyssey in 1988, though, was the series that finally had the New Gods as major players again as Orion, Lightray, and Forager teamed up with a number of the DCU’s heavy-hitters. “DC had just done this series where they mapped out their entire magical universe,” commented series writer Jim Starlin in a Pro2Pro interview in BACK ISSUE #9. “They said, ‘We would like you to do the same thing with our science fiction and superheroes.’ Of course, Cosmic Odyssey had nothing to do with mapping out anything.”

The series, penciled by Mike Mignola, features another major change to the Kirby template, however. The plot of the book revolves around the discovery of the Anti-Life Equation. No deviation there, right? But writer Starlin,

Kirby Revisted DC house ad for a 1984 Deluxe Format reprinting of Kirby’s New Gods.

(See BI #81 for more about DC’s Deluxe reprint series.)

TM & © DC Comics.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 7

Cosmic Quartet (top) Covers for the Prestige Format Cosmic Odyssey four-issue miniseries. Cover art by Mike Mignola. (bottom) Batman punches the insensitive Orion in Cosmic Odyssey #4. By Starlin/Mignola/Carlos Garzon.

TM & © DC Comics.

while using the Equation to explain why New Genesis and Apokolips existed in seclusion, also came up with the idea of anthropomorphizing the Equation. Rather than being a device to remove the free will of sentient beings, Starlin’s equation is an other-dimensional being intent on entering our reality. It is given the opportunity when Metron, believing he has finally solved the Equation, ventures into the creature’s domain. When he realizes what he faces he immediately retreats, however, the Equation is able to create four “aspects” of itself that follow each New God back to his universe. From there these aspects begin a plan to disrupt the Milky Way and allow the Equation access to this reality.

The rest of the series details the heroes’ attempts to stop these beings.

DC had earlier returned Orion to his harness, while Starlin closely adhered to the original relationship that had been established between Orion and the bug culture Forager came from. Kirby had established that they were considered an inferior race that was sometimes subject to blanket extermination by the “good guys” on New Genesis. In this tale, Forager is treated as basically an equal by all but Orion.

Forager joins Batman in travelling to Earth to foil an aspect there.

The duo succeeds, but Forager ends up paying the ultimate price.

Returning to New Genesis, Forager’s death is basically shrugged off

by Orion as insignificant, an attitude that enrages Batman since the Bug died a hero saving the entire Milky Way. Himself unhappy with Orion, as the series ends Highfather requests that his adopted son take Forager’s body home for burial.

WHO’S ON FIRST?

Spinning out of Cosmic Odyssey, DC gave the gods their own series once again, beginning with a new #1 (Feb. 1989). Since the series followed up on some of the threads left dangling from CO, it’s no surprise that Jim Starlin carried on his writing duties from that miniseries.

But there’s a twist—Starlin only wrote issues #2–4.

The initial penciler of the series was Paris Cullins, and a letters column later in the series revealed that he was really the only choice to illustrate the book. Cullins tells BACK ISSUE, “That was my mission at DC, to do The New Gods. We all have our influences, and my Kirby influence was always there. They could see that I was totally enthusiastic about the New Gods and I had my own ideas about what to do with them.” Cullins plotted the first issue, with Mark Evanier scripting.

Evanier was well suited to the job himself, having been an assistant to Jack Kirby during the original New Gods run.

The first issue features another attack on Earth by Darkseid as he attempts to capture Earthlings who possess a portion of the Anti-Life Equation. Of course, agents of New Genesis attempt to stop him.

Frustrated over Darkseid’s continual machinations, Orion returns to New Genesis to fulfill the mission Highfather assigned him at the end of Cosmic Odyssey. So even though the first issue ends with a lead into New Gods #2, reading that second issue on its own, you can see how Jim Starlin, now on board as co-plotter, had constructed it to follow immediately after CO. You can also see how the powers-that-be may have felt a different sort of first issue was necessary to reintroduce the characters and situations. Cullins reveals, “Starlin had left and they asked for a plot and I gave them this plotline and they said, ‘Let’s use that as the first issue, the intro.’ I look at it now and I think I like Jim Starlin’s better.”

As for why Jim Starlin left the series so quickly, Paris fills in the blanks, saying, “Originally, when [New Gods editor] Mike Carlin approached me, he said, ‘We’d like you to do it, and, of course, Jim Starlin is going to be heading it up.’ I asked, ‘Could I talk to him?’ They said, ‘Sure.’ I thought he was perfect to write the book and he was a big fan, but I think he felt he had already done his thing with it in Cosmic Odyssey. After we started talking he was surprised by my passion. He said, ‘You’ve already got your mind around this, why don’t you write it?’ One week later I got a slightly 8 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

pissed call from Mike Carlin saying, ‘What did you say own for issue #5, and his solution to the cliffhanger he to him? He wants off the book!’ [laughs]” was left is frighteningly simple. Orion, believing Forager As for the Starlin-written story, Orion returns the to have been killed by Mantis, redirects the missiles with body of Forager to the insect mound and reaches an a Boom Tube. Their destination? The insect mound that understanding with the inhabitants based on a greater had been Mantis and Forager’s home and to which the knowledge of their mutual history, while also developing strike force has retreated. Detonating, the warheads an instant attraction to the female who is assuming wipe out the entire civilization. Then Metron reveals that Forager’s role. Orion is so sympathetic that when a band Forager is still alive, and her anger at Orion causes the of Monitors—New Genesis agents assigned to control hero to question the very fabric of his being. the bugs—assault them, he fights them off.

Issue #6 begins with the revelation that below Orion returns to New Genesis’ Supertown to help Apokolips lives a group of animated Old Gods who are negotiate peace between the two races. As the new dead, yet walking. Referred to as the Dreggs, they roam Forager attempts to prove her race’s worth against Lonar the underworld. These beings were a part of Paris (still alive—another example of excising the Conway- Cullins’ plans for the saga. “I was heavily influenced written series from continuity), Orion learns that the by Saint Seiya,” Cullins reveals, “a Japanese manga bug culture was created by New Genesis and not [by Masami Kurumada] where the Zodiac gods Apokolips as he had always been taught. This come back to life and they fought other gods. reflects an idea that many writers of the I wanted to have the New Gods fight the characters have examined, the fact that Old Gods. There was also this series Pat New Genesis is not quite as good and Broderick was drawing [Lords of the pure as it is often presented. Disgusted Ultra Realm], and I wanted them to by this revelation, Orion departs. fight them as well.”

In Starlin’s final issue, New Gods #4 (May 1989), Orion has retreated to Earth, followed by the new Forager.

As she tries to make him see that New Genesis was never the perfect place he thought, his Mother Box warns him of a threat. They travel to find that Mantis, Darkseid’s own insect agent, has paris cullins seized a nuclear missile depot. After a prolonged battle during which Orion Ryan Palmer / Facebook. begins to show an exceptional amount of concern for his female companion, one of Mantis’ soldiers manages to launch the missiles, just as backup—in the form of Lightray and his friend Eve—arrive to witness the launch.

And that is where issue #4 ends.

Mark Evanier returned with issue #5 and would co-plot and script or solely write the rest of this run. He is on his

Cosmic Odyssey Spin-off (left) The New Gods #1 (Feb. 1989).

Cover by Paris Cullins and P. Craig Russell. (right) Original Paris Cullins cover art to issue #10 (Nov. 1989), Chapter 4 of “The Bloodline Saga.”

Courtesy of Heritage.

TM & © DC Comics.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 9

Like Father, Like Son (top) Splash to issue #10, showing the fourth phase of Orion’s transformation “into” Darkseid. (bottom) Issue #12’s (Jan. 1990) conclusion of “The Bloodline Saga.” Cover by Cullins and Willie Blyberg.

TM & © DC Comics.

The basic plot of the issue follows Orion, who is on Earth doing some soul searching with friend Dave Lincoln, being recruited

by Lightray to travel to Apokolips. Eve, as a possessor of part of the Anti-Life Equation, has been kidnapped and the duo strive to rescue her. They succeed, but as they attempt to escape both are struck by Darkseid’s Omega Beams and spirited away, and we find the manipulation of Orion was the Gray God’s plan all along. It seems Desaad has decided that killing Orion is no longer preferable.

He would rather cause his son to realize his true nature so he can make use of him.

This leads into issues #7–12 (Aug. 1989–Jan. 1990), which are a miniseries-within-a-series entitled “The Bloodline Saga.” Orion awakens in that world below Apokolips, here referred to as Asgaard, and encounters the corpses that reside there. A mysterious being offers to lead Orion out of there, and on their way they pass through a doorway that shows Orion some of his history. One particular vision especially resonates with him. He sees his mother and vows to rescue her from Section Zero, where Darkseid keeps her imprisoned. After a few encounters with his father’s forces, Orion decides the easiest way to infiltrate the stronghold is to volunteer in one of the regular sweeps that recruit Hunger Dogs into Darkseid’s armies.

On his mission, Orion meets up with Jovita, a freedom fighter in Armagetto, and here we see the flip side of the “New Genesis is not perfect” idea. Sure, it could be argued she is a rebel and that doesn’t really count, but the fact that people who are not totally evil and/or committed to Darkseid reside on Apokolips at all reveals a lot. (Kirby had portrayed underground factions on Apokolips as well.) Evil is not all-pervasive on Apokolips any more than good is on New Genesis.

Both leaders would probably prefer to eradicate the taint on their world, but after all, even in the universe of the gods there are only so many hours in the day.

While Orion runs the gamut on Apokolips, war drums are sounding back home. The Commander attempts to incite the citizens, telling them Highfather’s appeasement tactics are not working. This subplot continues throughout the duration of the main storyline, climaxing in issue #12 with a vote on who will lead New Genesis. Based on the fact that most residents still believe their world should be the opposite of Apokolips, Highfather is given a vote of confidence. But again we are shown this world is not a jewel of perfection.

As part of his pushback against the Commander, Highfather sends Lightray in search of Orion. In the course of his search he comes across Metron viewing a cocoon in the catacombs where Orion had encountered the Old Gods. Though unable to await its opening, Lightray leaves Metron to do what he does best—observe. In issue #12, the cocoon hatches an Old God, supposedly powered by those who resist Darkseid’s rule.

Metron comments that it may be years before those Old Gods pose any threat, though.

Orion finally manages to steal a bracelet from Kalibak that gives him access to Section

10 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

Zero. There he confronts his mother, only to have her refuse to leave. She states that no matter where she goes, she will be imprisoned by what she knows since she has seen that Darkseid is capable of love. This revelation has great significance for Orion. As we found at the end of issue #6, it was Darkseid’s plan that Orion would actually be transformed by his sojourn on Apokolips, but all this information does is confuse and frustrate the scion of Darkseid, while deep inside the knowledge that some tenderness exists within his father may have actually given him some hope.

Further highlighting the parallels between father and son, the issues in this storyline begin with progressive headshots of Orion.

In issue #7 he looks pretty much as we have always known him, but by #12 he is a dead ringer for Darkseid!

The creation of the book was unfortunately not quite as smooth as it could be around this time. Evanier was thrown into the middle of it to begin with, and as he related in TJKC #6, “Paris and I did not see the characters the same way. On top of that, Paris was getting yanked off for other DC projects. They would suddenly send me pages 2, 9, 14, 17 and 18 and say, ‘Here, dialogue these.’ And I would have no idea what was happening on the other pages, because Paris was adding to the plots.” Ah, the joys of creating comics.

Orion returns to Earth for issues #13–16.

The first two feature a creature called a Reflektor that had come to Earth with Eve when she was returned in the previous story.

The being has the ability to make itself appears as the worst fear of anyone who gazes upon it.

As #13 (Feb. 1990) ends, Orion confronts the creature in the guise of a monstrous version of himself. Later when Lightray asks Orion what he saw when he beheld the creature, Orion lies, saying that he saw Darkseid.

Given his visual progression in the storyline that just ended, there may be more truth to this statement than is at first apparent.

New Gods #16 is the first appearance of a fill-in penciler for the series as Rick Hoberg steps in for an issue that deals with an Earthman discovering an Apokoliptian weapon and the transformation that overcomes him. The series was a good fit for the artist, as he feels, “I had loved The New Gods since the series premiered.

It was truly Kirby’s masterpiece.”

At the time there also existed the possibility of a different writer taking over. BI’s Michael Eury was editing the title at the time and has told the website DCinthe80s.com, “I did briefly entertain offering the book to Neil Gaiman as writer.

This grew out of a pitch Neil made to me when I was editor of Secret Origins (BI just covered this series in #98) during the end of its run, for a Darkseid origin. Later I realized how perfect Neil would be for the Fourth World mythology. I got promoted to being Dick Giordano’s assistant and I regrettably never pursued that.” Eury adds today, “Also, Mark Evanier was doing a phenomenal job on New Gods, despite not always agreeing with Paris Cullins’ plot ideas, so why ‘fix’ something that wasn’t broken?” Gaiman would write Kirby-created gods when he authored the seven-issue Eternals series in 2006.

I’ll Break Manhattan (top) Orion’s got his hands full on this fabulously frenetic Cullins/Blyberg cover to New Gods #14 (Mar. 1990). As the book’s editor at that time, ye ed had the DC Bullpen redraw the logo to allow it to be crushed in the giant’s hand. Original art courtesy of Heritage. (bottom) Rick Hoberg stepped in to pencil New Gods #16, and soon became the series’ regular artist. Here’s a stunning double-page spread from that issue, inked by Willie Blyberg. (Hoberg fans, Rick will also be interviewed about All-Star Squadron two issues from now.)

TM & © DC Comics.

FATHER AND CHILD REUNION

After that fill-in, Paris Cullins is back wielding the pencil, but issue #17 (June 1990) also lists him as the main plotter as well. This tale involves an escaped Promethean giant named Yuga Khan. We are soon to find out, however, that Khan was not just some random seeker of knowledge at the Source Wall. He is Darkseid’s father.

Cullins remarks that the impetus for this storyline was to change things up. The stories always centred on peril to Orion, so “Let’s bring a challenge to Darkseid.

Yuga Khan was the Kali Yuga, the East Indian version of Ragnarok. It was to be the coming of the new Ragnarok because Orion, in effect, he’s Thor. In my own head that’s who he was.”

Evanier is back co-plotting with #18, and though the plotline is not yet complete, this is the last issue to feature any interior contribution from Cullins. When asked why he would leave in the middle of a story he had instigated, Cullins told BACK ISSUE that there were personal matters that took precedence, and we’ll leave it at that.

Also around that time, the letters pages indicated Cullins was working on a Jezebelle solo story. His departure derailed that, and while Cullins unfortunately does not mark evanier know what became of the pages he had completed, he does recall some of the plot. “It was a story about a woman who Gage Skimore / Wikimedia Commons. lived in Armagetto who was an enchanter of pleasure for credit. There was a thing she was transmitting to others. A kind of energy that seemed to be a bad thing but turned out to be a viral message from Mother Box.” Rick Hoberg rejoined the cast with issue #19 as pretty much the permanent penciler and says that he was aware of the situation when he drew issue #16. “It was the plan as I recall, because Paris was planning his exit anyway.

I had always loved collaborating with Mark Evanier, so it was an easy decision.”

Their collaboration was “the perfect incarnation of what is described as the Marvel style,” remarks Hoberg. “We would discuss a plot idea, unless one of us had a specific thing in mind, then Mark would write an outline. I would go off and draw it, then Mark would dialogue from my pencils.”

Story-wise, Yuga Khan returns to Apokolips and imprisons Darkseid as he begins his quest to uncover the secrets of the Source. In the previous issue Orion had been captured by an agent of Darkseid named Necromina. The Gray God believes his son is the key to defeating their mutual enemy, and when Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 11

Orion escapes and finds his father imprisoned, the Lord of Apokolips reveals that the only way to beat Khan is for Orion to kill Darkseid!

The two meld minds through the creature known as the Lump, but Orion is unable to kill his father mainly because it would be the ultimate deed of self-loathing, something a god must be above.

Darkseid was aware that this godly fiat prevented him from killing Yuga Khan, but he hoped that if Orion could kill his psychic self, the rule would be undone and he could kill his own father in reality.

Strangely, there was never any need for either to become involved at all. Yuga Khan ends up defeating himself when he again tries to penetrate the Source and is once again imprisoned with the Promethean Giants.

After that epic, issue #22 (Jan. 1991) focuses on Metron. While detailing his development of both the Möbius Chair and the technology used to create Boom Tubes, the tale truly deals with his relationship with Desdemona, the woman who was once his mate and her insights into how Metron came to be the way he is. “Mark and I both loved stories like ‘The Pact,’ which were more mythology and less superhero adventures,” says Hoberg regarding the tale. “It was less The Mighty Thor, and more Tales of Asgard.”

Cosmic-reaching stories such as this allowed Rick Hoberg to use a number of large-scale, incredibly detailed (dare we say Kirbyesque?) panels throughout his New Gods issues. The artist feels, “Those pieces always helped to give scope and grandeur to the world of the New Gods, and were sort of expected in comics of that time. They were an attempt to add some cinematic sense into comics.” As for any new characters introduced, Rick tells BACK ISSUE that “new designs

were definitely mine, but they had to distinctly fit in with the design sense of the Fourth World.”

Steve Erwin contributes pencils to issues #23–25, with the first of these issues featuring a man kidnapped to Apokolips by the creature Agogg because he again is said to possess a portion of the Anti-Life Equation. In the end the man shows incredible bravery when, confronted

by Darkseid, he commits suicide but manages to make it seem that it was Agogg who killed him.

Throughout all the Gods’ incarnations, that darn Equation really seems to be Darkseid’s only interest in Earthlings, yet this man wonders aloud if the Equation even exists, echoing a sentiment expressed by Dave Lincoln in issue #11. This idea really goes back to Kirby. In TJKC #6, Mark Evanier revealed that “the plan Jack had for the Anti-Life Equation was that it didn’t exist, at least not in the form Darkseid believed. If Darkseid ever got his hands on it, he’d have a very powerful concept in his hands, but nothing he could ever use for conquest.”

Following that, the Forever People guest-star in the next two issues as they combat a scheme of Desaad’s. In the end, the Forever People must combine to form the Infinity Man, who teams with Orion to thwart the Apokoliptian villain.

Hoberg returns for the final three issues of this run as issue #26 (May 1991) features a young boy who, through reading too many comic books (like there’s such a thing!), does not believe in the finality of death. Another possessor of a portion of the Anti-Life Equation, he is pursued by Darkseid’s agent Tyrus. Yet even when he is transported to Apokolips with Lightray and Orion, the boy still believes things will turn out all right, just because they always do in comics.

The Old God who had returned to a semblance of life in issue #12 reappears and finds a mystic hammer that restores him to the full appearance of life.

After watching Lightray sacrifice himself to protect rick hoberg the boy, he unleashes a bolt of lightning (hmmm… starting to remind you of anyone?) that aids the New Gods by destroying their foe’s gun, and seemingly purging him of hate. The boy learns to accept reality to a certain degree, while the Old God has his first coherent thought in a million years, believing there may be hope on Apokolips.

The final two issues again concern the Gods’ relationship to humanity and death. In this story, Darkseid once more sends an agent after an Earthling, Anne Flaherty by name, who possesses a portion of that pesky Equation. The twist in this story is that before the agents of either New Genesis or Apokolips can even begin their missions, the woman is killed by a drunk driver.

Lightray, however, uses a Liferock supplied by Metron to relive the woman’s past and feels she died unjustly. Knowing that Darkseid has resurrected his minions before, Lightray receives a staff from Metron that will restore Anne Flaherty to life. In the end he is unable to go through with it, realizing that it goes against the natural order of things.

With that, another New Gods title is canceled. At least this one didn’t end with the story incomplete! As before, the characters would hang around, appearing in various places in the DCU before it was felt they were ready for primetime again.

THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY

Rachel Pollack and Tom Peyer, along with artist Luke Ross, were at the helm when the next kick at the can began with a first issue dated October 1995. “I remember submitting a proposal,” begins Tom Peyer. “I don’t remember if anyone else asked for it. But we were reviving every ’60s and ’70s comic we could think of back then. So it was practically a given that the New Gods would come back.”

And how did the assigning of two writers come about? “I asked her to write it with me because I love collaborating with her,” Peyer says.

Daddy Issues Yuga Khan, as seen in New Gods #21 (Dec. 1990).

By Evanier/Hoberg/Blyberg.

TM & © DC Comics.

12 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

“We’d already worked together on Doom Patrol [where Peyer was editor]. And I was overcommitted. I probably had no business proposing anything. So I figured with a co-writer it would take half the time, right?” (We’ll see how that worked out shortly.)

It is interesting to note that this series begins with a recap of the origin of the Fourth World as first detailed

by Kirby. Along with background on the New Genesis/ Apokolips relationship, almost all New Gods series begin this way, surely an indication that DC and/or the various creators felt that because of the constant cancellation and restart cycle, there were always new readers who would need some background… hopefully, there were new readers, anyway.

When this series begins, the tone switches much more to the New Gods as GODS. “This was one of the great attractions for me,” recounts Rachel Pollack, “to write them the way Kirby clearly intended, as gods rather than superheroes on steroids.” In that spirit, there is very little involvement with Earth, and what there is happens due to the drive of the overall plot.

The impetus for this change begins with Darkseid.

Feeling after all this time that his pursuit of the Anti-Life Equation may not be the best way to attain his goals, he decides to go right to the source—or in this case, the Source. Against even Desaad’s advice, Darkseid has developed a method to enter the Source itself and proceeds to do so.

Peyer recalls the origin of this plot this way: “We were trying not to simply retell Kirby’s stories. Darkseid is the devil, and the devil corrupts things that are good. It felt like the natural thing to do.”

Any incursion into the Source is, of course, not going to escape the notice of Highfather, and subsequently, Orion. Deciding that this is a travesty that cannot be allowed, Orion pursues Darkseid into the Source.

Most of issue #2 (Nov. 1995) chronicles their battle, which, seeing where it takes place, affects beings in many corners of the universe, even Metron, Highfather, and others in the Celestial City. In the end, Orion kills Darkseid! Of course, this is all according to plan as far as the big gray guy is concerned, and the repercussions from his death will drive the plot for Rachel Pollack’s entire run on the title.

The most telling effect of this event is that it drives many of the residents of New Genesis slightly insane, none more so than Lightray, who becomes extremely violent and seems to enjoy cruelty. In their first issue, the writing duo had emphasized Lightray’s… lightness, if you will, making him a very jovial, happy character. has Metron develop bombs for him with which he As it turns out, this was not an accident. “To me, Lightray plans to “cleanse” the planet’s surface, for as a bringer is not so much childish as innocent. He sees only the of light, in his madness he feels nothing epitomizes light,” Pollack tells BACK ISSUE. “That’s why he his nature more than total purity. was so easily corrupted.” Tom Peyer agrees, As of issue #6 (Mar. 1996), Peyer bows feeling, “I think the main purpose Kirby out of co-writing duties. Remember him gave Lightray was to make Orion seem saying that he hoped having help grim and dark by comparison. So we would mean it would take less time? probably played Lightray’s notes loudly Unfortunately, “Writing doesn’t work that to make the contrast obvious.” way,” says Tom. “After a few months of this, I had to cut back, and it was easy Pollack and Peyer introduce a to leave New Gods in Rachel’s hands.” group of beings who bear the brunt of Lightray’s madness. The Primitives Come the next issue, Pollack could live on the surface of New Genesis have been forgiven if she felt everyone and are gods who have bound their was abandoning her. Issue #6 was the lives to nature. When the Source is last issue Luke Ross would pencil. For compromised, a plague descends the rest of her time on the title Pollack tom peyer upon them, striking down many of would be teamed with a different pencil their number and causing them to artist almost every issue as Stefano swear revenge on those they feel are responsible, the Raffaelle, Dean Zachary, Keith Giffen, and Sergio Cariello residents of the Celestial City. They do not get the all contribute to issues #7–11. “It would have been nice chance, however, as the increasingly unhinged Lightray to have a chance to work more closely with the artists,”

A New New Gods Artist Steve Erwin’s rendition of our Fourth World faves, with the Forever People dropping by in New Gods #24 (Mar. 1991).

Script by Evanier, inks by Blyberg.

Courtesy of Heritage.

TM & © DC Comics.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 13

The Even Newer New Gods (top) Luke Ross’ cover for the Tom Peyer/Rachel Pollackpenned New Gods #1 (Oct. 1995). (bottom) Desaad grovels on this spectacular original art page (courtesy of Heritage) from 1995’s New Gods #1. Words

by Peyer and Pollack, pencils by Ross, and inks by Brian Garvey.

TM & © DC Comics.

recalls Pollack. “I was used to [the DC imprint] Vertigo where there was more of a sense of collaboration.”

That sixth issue has Orion tricked into believing Darkseid is still alive, so he heads to Apokolips and ends up battling Kalibak. As the battle ends, a section of Orion’s body that had been becoming more and more corrupt since his experience inside the Source tears itself free, and Darkseid is reborn! In a welcome change of pace, we find in later issues that this had not been a part of Darkseid’s plot. He had hoped he could be reborn, but he really died within the Source, and that event corrupting the cosmic force was his one true goal.

The master of Apokolips has no time to rejoice, however. His plan has worked too well. The gods of New Genesis have been driven so mad, their wars threaten to awaken an ancient creature by the name of S’Ivaa (named after the Hindu god Shiva, according to Rachel), a being so fearsome its rampage could destroy the universe.

When godly attempts to prevent the being’s awakening fail, Highfather and Darkseid realize the only way to defeat it is to sacrifice themselves. They both must surrender themselves to the Source to restore a state of balance.

As guest-star Superman teams with Orion to delay S’Ivaa, the world rulers journey to the Source Wall. Of course, Darkseid betrays the leader of New Genesis, tricking him into entering the Source alone. Luckily the big red S and Orion succeed in throwing S’Ivaa into the Source Wall, thereby imprisoning him, and driving Darkseid into the Source once more.

This achieves the desired effect, as the Source and all those on New Genesis are healed.

This finale to issue #11 signals the end of Rachel Pollack’s run on the title. She did not really mean for it to end there, but “John Byrne wanted to do it, and he was a big star.” Further to that, Pollack mentioned in an interview in TJKC #46 that rachel pollack “we weren’t given much time to wrap up our story and lead into what Byrne wanted to do.”

As for further plans Rachel had for the series, when the gods began to part with their sanity, Highfather had made the attempt to understand madness itself by going to a place where there were lots of examples to choose from—Arkham Asylum, on Earth.

Though Highfather consulted a few of the inmates, and learned some about the nature of insanity, Pollack had in mind one storyline in particular using a few of the asylum’s more familiar residents, with “Orion having to rule both planets, and bringing Two-Face as his prime minister (and maybe blowing off steam with the Joker). Orion and Two-Face are such a perfect match.”

A two-page coda ends Pollack’s final issue. Metron examines the restored worlds of Apokolips and New Genesis and sees all is well.

He still has a bad feeling, though, and flies off into space, just in time to see the two worlds burst into flame! This sequence leads into John Byrne’s arrival with the next issue and the new direction he would take.

Before we get to Byrne, though, a few matters of housekeeping…

A NEW TAKE(I)ON SHOWCASE

Just before and during the time this series ran, DC was in the midst of a quasi-revival of its seminal Showcase title. Featuring the relevant year appended to the title, the book led with either a Batman- or Superman-based feature, but also had a variety of other characters.

Members of the New Gods cast were featured in a few of these stories and rate a mention as a couple of significant developments creator- and creation-wise took place therein.

In Showcase ’94 #1, José Luis García López illustrates a story written by someone who will play a large part in our saga shortly.

Showcase ’95 #7 and ’96 #3 feature stories written by Scott Ciencin and are really one-offs. There is an interesting idea presented in the first story, though. A mysterious being is going around killing the New Gods. Though the tale is only ten pages long and the villain is vanquished at the end, the story revisits Orion’s feelings for the female Forager that had been hinted at during the 1980s series. As well, the central plot of a being killing the gods would be revived years later. There is no indication that this story had any effect on the Death of the New Gods series, but it is an interesting precursor.

14 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

Rachel Pollack herself scribes the story in Showcase ’96 #5, which features Highfather’s daughter Atinai, a character Pollack introduced during her New Gods tenure. The story takes place in the distant past and touches on themes Pollack would echo in the main book.

A series connected to the gods also ran during the same time period. Takion was the creation of Paul Kupperberg and Aaron Lopresti and ran for seven issues in his own title, beginning with a June 1996-dated issue. Created by Highfather from a blind Earthman, Takion was a Source elemental and is supposed to have been created to help clean the taint from the Source, though he is later revealed to be After the events that ended issue paul kupperberg created more as an avatar for Highfather. #11, Byrne begins with basically a clean © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons.

At the same time his series ended, John slate as Metron is the featured character, Byrne began to use him in New Gods, a series Kupperberg and he initially has no memory! Byrne had a track record of edited. Kupperberg himself states, “I was happy John instituting a “Back to basics” approach when he took over wanted to use him and if I thought there was a problem with a book, having done so when he assumed the reins of how he handled the character I would have spoken up.” Fantastic Four and Superman. His thinking in that area is taken to another level here. He stated in TJKC #12 that “since BYRNEIN’ FOR YOU Kirby’s last issue of the first series was #11, and my first issue As mentioned, with issue #12 (Nov. 1996) of the New will be #12, I cannot quite resist approaching it more or less Gods title, John Byrne, with the assistance of inker Bob from the direction that mine is the ‘next issue’ after Kirby’s Wiacek, takes over, with Walt Simonson installed as last.” Rachel Pollack’s feeling on that idea is, “At that time cover artist. Byrne had previous experience with the in comics there was an approach that new writers would characters as the penciler of the Legends miniseries and sweep away what came before them and make their mark writer/penciler of parts of the Superman titles’ Legends on a series by starting fresh (or going back to an original crossover. During that same stretch he featured Big version). I don’t know that that was Byrne’s idea since we Barda and Mister Miracle in two issues of Action Comics did not communicate, but that was the sense I had.” and, collaborating with George Pérez, utilized Darkseid The amnesiac Metron is discovered in an alley on Earth as the villain in the lead story in issue #600 of that title. by a young boy, and accompanies him to a friend’s.

Closer to his takeover of New Gods, Byrne produced Metron jury-rigs the kid’s computer so that he can play the 1995 DC/Marvel crossover Darkseid vs. Galactus: back the data-core in his suit. The pictures projected show The Hunger, and had the leader of Apokolips menace Metron himself dragging Apokolips towards New Genesis Wonder Woman when he began his run on her title. and thus out of its shadow, purportedly to reverse the

“Wall of Souls” (right) José Luís García-López illustrated Walter Simonson’s New Gods tale in Showcase ’94 #1 (Jan. 1994). (left) Takion #1 (June 1996). Cover by Aaron Lopresti and Gary Martin.

TM & © DC Comics.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 15

john byrne Corey Bond / Wikimedia Commons.

Enter John Byrne (left) The superstar writer/penciler, inked by Bob Wiacek, took over the series with New Gods #12 (Nov. 1996). (right) Walter Simonson provided covers for the series. Shown here is #13’s cover.

TM & © DC Comics.

roles of the two worlds. Disaster ensues as the two worlds crash together. Byrne may have been paying homage to Kirby’s last work on his characters as The Hunger Dogs graphic novel ended with Metron towing a planet.

Metron meets up with Mister Miracle, Big Barda, and Takion, who corroborate his tale that something is wrong with New Genesis and Apokolips, but we are made to feel that the scene Metron relived may not have been real. Meanwhile, Orion crashes to Earth in front of the group of humans he teamed up with in the early Kirby issues, while Lightray and the Forever People reappear on Earth in a different locale.

As Orion is cared for on Earth, Desaad arrives and wants answers as to what has happened to his home world. Orion revives and confronts him, causing Desaad’s weapon to send them both into the Source.

The various groups eventually travel to the Source Wall to discover the truth behind what is happening.

Arriving there, they find Highfather and Darkseid both imprisoned in the Wall, but they meet up with avatars of the pair who explain that in reality, they never entered the Source at all, they just became trapped on the Wall with a number of other denizens of their respective worlds. It seems this is all part of a very long-range plan of Highfather’s. Darkseid’s avatar tries to employ the Forever People’s Mother Box, but instead all of the characters are swept into a whirlpool of energy. We are given a long view of the supposedly destroyed planets, showing that they have actually merged into one, with one half being New Genesis, the other half, Apokolips. This scene ends issue #15, and this run of New Gods as well.

Thankfully, although the title ends there, it was not another instance of the series leaving everyone hanging.

In this case there was merely a title change, and another first issue. Rechristened Jack Kirby’s Fourth World, the book would carry on as if there was no break between issues, starting with JKFW #1 (Mar. 1997). Walt Simonson even retained his position as cover artist.

Why the change in name? On his Byrne Robotics site John commented, “DC had realized the current state of the industry and fandom was such that they could no longer feasibly publish the Fourth World books as separate entities. So we put all the eggs in one basket and launched the new series with a new title.” Along with New Gods, DC also folded the Mister Miracle and Takion titles into JKFW.

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BREAKING THE FOURTH WORLD WALL

To begin the new book, now written and illustrated solely by Byrne, the creator finally answered an age-old question that had probably vexed readers of these characters since the very beginning: Why the heck is this stuff called the Fourth World anyway?

The Source was the First World. Inside of it developed the world of the Old Gods. This was the Second World.

These gods were destroyed in a monumental battle.

The energy created from their destruction spread to Earth and was catalyst for the creation of the pantheon of Greek gods, the Third World. The remains of the Second World reformed as New Genesis and Apokolips, the Fourth World.

After that lesson in nomenclature and the requisite summation of the history of the conflict between the two worlds, Byrne continues where he left off with his revision of past tales. Those revisions did have a foundation the creator had thought through. “Too many writers and artists over the years have tried to put their own spins on Kirby characters and ideas,” Byrne stated on Byrne Robotics.

“What Kirby created was usually so simple, so PRIMAL, that messing with it just, well, messes with it.”

It seems the tainting of the Source in the previous series was merely a lie perpetrated by Highfather to combat a longstanding scheme of Darkseid’s. As well, he had removed Metron’s memory and moved all those gods to the Source Wall while he combined the two worlds solely to distract Darkseid from that scheme, the details of which will unfold as this series progresses and form the foundation of pretty much all of Byrne’s run.

To facilitate his plan, for years uncounted, Darkseid has been killing gods throughout the universe and stealing their power. Only the gods of Asgard have escaped his wrath to this point as he considers them too close to the Old Gods for comfort. The association of the Old Gods to the Asgardians does seem to permeate a number of creators’ work on the series. Remember Paris Cullins’

It’s Hammer Time!

Big Barda battles Thor (!) on Walter Simonson’s cover to Jack Kirby’s Fourth World #2 (Apr. 1997).

Does it remind you of an earlier Simonson cover?

Jack Kirby’s Fourth World TM & © DC Comics.

Thor TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

feelings about Orion and Thor? Byrne utilizes this at the end of issue #1 by having Orion’s mother Tigra recall Thor himself from the Ether.

Breaching the barrier that separates the two halves of the merged worlds, Tigra and Thor meet and battle Barda and Mister Miracle, who end up defeating Thor. Taking him back to New Genesis, Thor reveals the reason for Tigra’s urgency in summoning him is that Asgard is now ripe for attack by Darkseid as Odin has disappeared.

Learning that Odin is imprisoned in the Source Wall, Scott Free and Barda enlist the Forever People to help free him. They accomplish this, but have no time to formulate plans with him as Metron shows up and reveals that an army composed of races whose gods Darkseid has killed is approaching Earth, intent on destroying it! Even worse, one of the ships holds a weapon capable of destroying the entire universe, and Metron determines that the only thing that could stop it is the Astro Force, but it is inside the Source, with Orion.

Highfather and Takion manage to pool their energies and rescue Orion, but he is greatly damaged by the ordeal and needs time to recover. Beautiful Dreamer earns them a brief respite as she projects an illusion of Earth exploding. Of course, the image of our planet going up in flames ends one issue and we are given the explanation in the next, just to heighten suspense.

Takion uses his powers to connect Orion to the Source and heal him just in time for him to contain the blast when the doomsday device is set off. Metron subsequently strikes a bargain with the aliens, offering up New Gods for them to worship, and they agree to leave peacefully. They don’t make it very far, though. Darkseid quickly manipulates Orion into destroying the retreating armada.

Unable to understand this behavior, the gods of New Genesis investigate, and as they probe deeper they find that this is not merely Orion, but a composite being consisting of both he and Dessad. It again requires the combined energies of Highfather and Takion to separate them.

Not feeling like himself after that ordeal—sitting and playing with birds, in fact—Orion is taken by the Forever People to see his old teacher, Valkyra, who also happens to be Vykin the Black’s mother. She challenges Orion to a fight—what better way to restore a warrior’s spirit? Their battle is interrupted by a massive vision of Highfather telling them the Source is in dire peril.

This event happens in issue #7, and portends the culmination of the overriding plan that has motivated both planets’ leaders since

Mr. Byrne took charge. All along Darkseid has been preparing to harness the return of something called the Godwave.

The issue leads into the Genesis miniseries, a big DC Universe crossover with multiple tie-ins running throughout the company’s line. Beginning one week before JKFW #8 and published weekly, the four-issue Genesis series, written by Byrne and drawn by Ron Wagner and Joe Rubinstein, counts Byrne himself as one of its biggest detractors. He stated on Byrne Robotics, “One of the frustrating things about working on Fourth World was that I had to keep coming up with stories that were BIG enough for the New Gods, and when I did, DC kept trying to take them away from me and turn them into mega-crossover ‘events.’

I finally let them do it with Genesis—and look how that turned out!”

The Godwave itself is that wave of energy created when the Second World exploded. It travelled outward, seeding worlds with the potential for gods. It finally hit the edge of the universe and bounced back.

On this second pass, diminished in power, it created the potential for superheroes. That was 1000 years ago, DCU time. It has now just about reached total compression again in the heart of the Source. After that it will explode outward, essentially destroying the Fourth World and the universe while creating the Fifth World.

The first two issues of the miniseries detail the effects of this compression on Earth, with many heroes of the DCU losing their powers. The reasoning for this is because the Godwave created, and is now disrupting the Kurtzberg field that seems to govern a lot of those powers. (I’m going to make the assumption here that everyone reading this knows where that name comes from.) [Editor’s note: Well, ye ed has learned never to assume. In case you don’t know, Jack Kirby was born Jacob Kurtzberg.]

In JKFW #8 (Oct. 1997), Highfather assembles a group of gods including Zeus, Jove, Odin, and Ares. They combine into one being to travel into the Source to try to stop Darkseid, who has travelled there to capture the Godwave’s energy. Along the way they encounter various obstacles that force them to shed one of the gods at a time. In the end, Ares and Highfather are all that is left, and Ares, intent on capturing the power of the Godwave for himself, betrays and kills Highfather.

The miniseries climaxes as Darkseid and Ares have managed to stabilize the Godwave. Meanwhile, the telepaths among the heroes combine to link the minds of every sentient creature in the universe and are able to wrest this ultimate power from them. Using the joined

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 17

Fourth World Crossover (top) JKFW #8 (Oct. 1997) tied in to DC’s Genesis event. Cover by Simonson. (bottom) DC’s heroes rally behind Highfather on this dynamic Alan Davis/ Mark Farmer cover to Genesis #2.

TM & © DC Comics.

worlds of New Genesis and Apokolips as a focus, the energy is redistributed throughout the universe without destroying it and the two planets are separated. As an added bonus, Darkseid and Ares are imprisoned in the Source Wall.

It really is a shame that Byrne did not enjoy the way Genesis came out. He had spent most of the issues of JKFW leading up to it preparing for it, and the issues after basically deal with the repercussions from it.

As issue #9 begins, Kalibak attacks Orion to assert his rule of Apokolips. Orion wins the battle, but Lightray wonders why Orion could not kill Kalibak. The two are surprised by Tigra, who tells them it could not be done because Darkseid’s son must survive to fulfill the prophesy of killing him, and Orion is not Darkseid’s son! She claims his father was a captain of the guard that she seduced after lying to Darkseid that she was pregnant with his child when he began to grow tired of her. This question of Orion’s parentage will not be resolved for quite some time.

Back on New Genesis, Scott Free, being Highfather’s son, is crowned leader, a role he is loath to assume, and he takes little time asking Takion to take it instead.

In the aftermath of the worlds’ separation, both planets are in a fair amount of geological turmoil. Issue #11 shows Orion travelling to find Valkyra, and when he does it becomes apparent that romance has blossomed between them. Orion certainly seemed to have his fair share of ladies along the way, didn’t he?

Any book featuring these characters does not go long without Darkseid casting his shadow.

In issue #10, Metron and Desaad set off to free the big gray guy from the Source Wall.

Desaad, we can understand. Metron? In issue #16, when quizzed by the Forever People, Metron states that the evil of Darkseid is necessary to balance off the goodness of New Genesis and the Source. The youngsters are still sceptical until Takion, a creature of the Source, backs him up.

Metron’s actions in this matter serve to reinforce John Byrne’s take on the character, and it is reiterated in issue #17 (July 1998) with a closeup of Metron speaking a single word. On Byrne Robotics, the writer-artist stated, “I have often commented that the splash of this issue is the definitive shot of Metron. Just staring out and asking, ‘Why?’ ” The efforts of the duo fail to free Darkseid when Ares subverts their plan and frees himself instead. Byrne would continue to chronicle the machinations of the God of War in Wonder Woman. Meanwhile Darkseid would not remain imprisoned for much longer.

In the 17th issue, which begins with that headshot of Metron, Kalibak tests a device he believes will destroy all those imbedded in the Source Wall, including Darkseid.

The test draws Orion to him, and the two stage another one of their knock-down, drag-out battles with Kalibak coming out ahead and about to kill Orion. As the Black Racer approaches to take him, Valkyra dives in front and sacrifices herself instead.

From Orion’s viewpoint, life, but another romance nipped tragically in the bud.

Carrying on with his plan, Kalibak heads to the Source Wall. All he ends up doing, though, is freeing his father and taking his place in captivity. Darkseid then quickly heads back to Apokolips and dishes out punishment to his lackeys who schemed to take over while he was imprisoned.

With all this talk of Darkseid, what of his opposite number who, though he died in issue #8, died within the Source which is the final resting place of the life force of these gods? Though Takion agrees that Darkseid was necessary to the cosmic balance, he also feels that a restored New Genesis is integral to oppose him.

With issue #19 (Sept. 1998), the Source avatar ventures into the Source itself and returns with the essence of Highfather. Even in this form he is able to return Supertown to its former pristine condition, and the tables are reset for the cosmic battle of the New Gods to continue.

When he took over, many felt Byrne was the ideal choice to capture the epic scale of Kirby’s ideas. Byrne himself thought it took him awhile to get there, though. Comparing JKFW #16 to a Kirby issue, Byrne commented on Byrne Robotics, “In one of those issues I was smashed in the face by a double-page spread of Armaghetto—Kirby firing on all cylinders, basically. Oh, man, I thought, I am NEVER gonna be able to pull off something like this! Well, in this issue I finally came within hailing distance.”

Most issues of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World featured backup tales fleshing out some of the characters’ histories. Byrne contributed the origin of Darkseid and a tale of Mister Miracle.

Walter Simonson authored an origin for Kanto, and Byrne returned with Ron Wagner to give us the beginnings of Infinity Man. The 20th and final issue of the series features a retelling of the first meeting between Superman and the Forever People. John Byrne would have loved to continue on the title, but “I came to leave JKFW and Wonder Woman because Paul Kupperberg, my editor, was thinking of going off staff,” the creator related on the Byrne Robotics site. “With my contract on both books coming to an end I did not want to re-up not knowing who my editor might be.” That’s all well and good, but as the series ends, the question of Orion’s parentage had still not been resolved. For the balance of the Byrne issues, Tigra still attests that Darkseid is not his father.

This was not an oversight or a Greatest Story Never Told, however, as the characters were scheduled to continue in Jack Kirby’s Orion of the New Gods, now helmed by Walt Simonson as writer and artist. From Byrne Robotics once again: “When Walter was preparing to take over the Fourth World stuff, he and I discussed some of his plans and things I could do to help set up his arrival.” From there, Simonson takes up the narration. “I did most of the covers, so I was reading John’s work or talking to John about it before it came out.

Consequently, I asked John to leave his story thread about Orion’s parentage unresolved so that I could use it in the beginning of my stories. John very kindly did that.”

18 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

ANTI-LIFE, THE UNIVERSE, AND EVERYTHING

up on: “The various heads scattered through the earlier Walter Simonson was no stranger to working with these part of my run here and there along the borders were characters either. He had illustrated Darkseid in 1982’s eventually going to be revealed to be the Old Gods, Teen Titans/X-Men crossover, drawn Orion in 1992’s watching and plotting their return. I abandoned that Armageddon Inferno series, was the writer of that story in storyline when it became clear that the title wasn’t Showcase ’94 #1, as well as one in the 1997 DCU Holiday selling enough to continue.”

Bash, and had just penned the origin of Granny Goodness Most of the first 19 issues in the series also feature in Secret Origins of Super-Villains 80-Page Giant (1999). backup stories by other creators. Originally Simonson That Holiday Bash story has a very interesting had asked friends to do stories featuring their favorite Fourth provenance. Sal Buscema illustrates the story in which World characters. Most of them were happy to help, but Highfather and Orion fill in for a department store Santa admitted they had not followed the characters for a while and his gnome. Orion first tries to be an elf, but is and asked Walt to write a tale for them to illustrate. very, um, unconvincing. “It was an idea I had In the course of writing them he realized he had had years earlier when I was doing Thor,” a lot of balls in the air in the lead feature, reveals Simonson. “It would have been a and ended up integrating the two stories much story involving Odin’s return to the MU more closely than he had initially planned. after falling into Muspelheim, a story As the title begins, after speaking to his with Odin and Thor. But I never got far mother, Orion realizes Darkseid is the only enough in my Thor run to bring Odin one who can answer the question of his back, so I never used it.” true parentage. He first travels to Apokolips Announced in the last issue of JKFW and eventually discovers Darkseid is on (Oct. 1998) as appearing in a few Earth performing an experiment with the months, the book actually premiered with Anti-Life Equation by taking complete control a June 2000 cover date. Simonson of a small Nebraska town. comments that he had some previous walter simonson commitments to clear up first. When the book did appear, the title was simply © Luigi Novi / Orion since “I didn’t think I’d be able to Wikimedia Commons. do what John was doing, working with a focus more or less on the entirety of the Fourth World material,” relates Walt. “I thought I’d be better off focusing on a single character as the mainstay of my series. Then I could bring in other Fourth World characters as the stories or my own inclinations dictated. I always had Orion in mind as the protagonist of the comic I was going to be doing.”

A visual device appears from the start that represented the first stirrings of an idea that Walt never got to follow

As the King Imagined It… Kirby’s original vision for his series was as Orion of the New Gods, and in 2000 writer/artist Walter Simonson’s new Fourth World book was titled, simply, Orion. (left) Issue #1’s cover. (right) Issue #4’s splash.

TM & © DC Comics.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 19

20 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

Between a Rock and a Hard Place (opposite page) Orion finds himself in a horrifying predicament in this original art page from Heritage’s archives.

From Orion #8 (Jan. 2001). Story and pencils by Simonson, inks by Wiacek. (left) A gruesome cover, for Orion #21 (Feb. 2002). (right) Simonson’s Fourth World contributions have been collected in DC’s Orion Omnibus.

TM & © DC Comics.

Arriving on our planet, Orion finds that Darkseid has cloned a man known as Billion Dollar Bates, revealed by Kirby to contain the entire Anti-Life Equation. Destroying the clone, Orion thwarts his father’s plan.

There is a complication, however. Tigra has arrived on Earth, attempting to escape an assassination attempt by one of Darkseid’s lieutenants.

That lieutenant is a Simonson creation named Justeen. “I thought Justeen was a little like Lorelei in Thor,” Walt commented in the TwoMorrows Modern Masters book dedicated to him. “She served some of the same purposes as Desaad, but you give her a different spin.

You could have her do stuff Desaad would be doing, but when she’s doing it, it’s new and it’s different.”

What she is doing in this case is sending some Apokoliptian Suicide Jockeys after Orion’s mother. They manage to follow her to Earth and succeed in killing Tigra… in front of her son!

In the aftermath, the stage is set for the final battle between Darkseid and Orion on Apokolips. This albatross had hung over all creators of the series since Orion revealed it was destined to happen in the original New Gods #11 (Nov. 1972). Simonson tells BACK ISSUE, “Everyone drifts back to that because it was unfinished. I thought I’d do my own version of it as the first story in my run. Then it’s out of the way, and readers wouldn’t really have any idea about what’s coming next.”

Their confrontation takes place in front of the denizens of both New Genesis and Apokolips who are arrayed along the top and bottom of each page in an almost-wordless issue #5. Orion eventually achieves victory by using the Astro Force to reflect Darkseid’s own Omega Beams back at him, seemingly destroying him.

Triumphant, Orion begins to assert his will on the inhabitants of Apokolips, letting them know he is not his father. Of course, there will always be those that are never willing to accept Orion, most predictably Desaad, Mantis, and Kalibak. Issues #6–11 chronicle Orion’s battles with them.

During this time, Orion meets Mortalla, Darkseid’s concubine, who has more than her fair share of tricks up her sleeve. Orion also finds that his Mother Box has ceased working and he is losing control of the Astro Force. Mortalla thoughtfully provides him with an Apokolips Father Box, but the two do not work exactly the same. “I liked the dichotomy of Mother Boxes and Father Boxes,” comments Simonson. “I like the notion that New Genesis and Apokolips are inverted mirrors of each other.”

In issue #11, Orion returns to Earth and the Nebraskan town from the first few issues to confront Desaad, who has created a complete replica of Billion Dollar Bates’ mind and uses it to hurl the reconstituted Equation at Orion. Sadly for Desaad, it has a different effect than he desired, for the Bates mind has had enough of servitude. When Orion uses the last vestige of his energy to kill Desaad, the mind rewards him with control of the Equation—and Orion promptly decides to put it to use!

Before we go any further, as is readily apparent, the Equation plays a large part in most issues of Orion, so we should probably find out from Walter Simonson what his thoughts about it were. “Jack Kirby was a WWII vet and served in Europe,” Simonson says. “At that time, Hitler pretty much represented the ultimate evil in the world. He was also the head of a fascist form of government. My lessons from high school in grade 11 ‘Problems of Democracy’ included the teaching that fascism was a form of government that put the state above the individual. In other words, the will of the people was subordinated to the will of the state.

“It’s not a big jump from Nazism to some of Jack’s visual imagery on Apokolips,” Simonson continues. “Just think of those goose-stepping, non-entity soldiers in some panels. So I thought of the Anti-Life Equation as the ultimate expression of fascism, where the will of everyone was subordinate to the will of the state. And as with fascism, a lot depends on who is expressing the will of the state through the exercise of the state’s or the Equation’s power.”

While we are plumbing Mr. Simonson’s brain, this would be a good time to ask what he thought of the notion of New Genesis and Apokolips being paragons of good and evil, respectively. “I didn’t see either world as a literal ideal. They were a mix, as with all things other than the ideal. I think I stuck a small rather Eden–like garden somewhere hidden inside Apokolips. Don’t remember if I did something similar to New Genesis, but the bugs and their lives kind of serve the same purpose there.

I didn’t see the New Gods on either side as exemplars of perfection, although like many of us, they generally tried their best.”

That “Eden–like garden” is where a certain figure is residing in the backup feature in issue #12, just so you don’t think Walt’s comments here are a total non-sequitur.

In Orion #12 (May 2001), Orion turns his attention to “ordering” Apokolips, using the Equation to enforce peace and harmony.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 21

The Saga Concludes Orion #25 (June 2002), guest-starring Mister Miracle, brought Simonson’s Fourth World saga to a close.

TM & © DC Comics.

Issues #13–14 welcome back John Byrne and his most revered inker, Terry Austin, as guest-artists, portraying Orion heading to Earth to impose his will and order there. Earth gets a special nod for its association with the Equation all this time.

Behind the scenes, back on Apokolips and New Genesis, things are occurring that will very soon bring the entire storyline to a head. Justeen subverts Lightray and uses him to convince New Genesis that Orion has become a menace. Concurrently, an ancient doomsday weapon of Darkseid’s has been unleashed, but the power of the Equation is such that Orion is easily able to stop both threats, and all that is accomplished is that Orion realizes Darkseid is still alive!

While Orion has been going about his business, Darkseid, who was hiding out in that Eden–like garden, has convinced Metron to construct a simulacrum of the Black Racer to kill Orion. Darkseid’s carrot to the scholar is that if Orion succeeds in “ordering” the cosmos, what knowledge will be left for Metron to pursue?

22 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

Their construct is flawed, however, and crashes. As Orion uses the Anti-Life Equation to summon Darkseid to him, a pair of hands pick up the remnants of the device.

Though not shown except in shadow, we can tell that it is Mister Miracle, now wearing the helmet and skis.

Orion forces Darkseid to clear up the longstanding mystery of his parentage. Darkseid is indeed his father.

It is doubtful two creators such as Byrne and Simonson who so revere the Kirby source material would alter something so fundamental, though the question did serve to cause a lot of grief for Orion in the interim.

Orion is about to force Darkseid to kill himself when the Racer breaks it up, claiming Orion has disrupted the cosmic order, using the Equation as he has.

Orion attempts to control him, but the Equation has no effect on him. The Racer then leads Orion into a Boom Tube, but this is a tube with a difference—it apparently has no exit.

We find out as issue #16 begins that Scott Free had not been totally truthful with us. Orion has exited the Tube in a realm called the Abysall Plain. Presiding over the Plain is a being named Clockwerx. Unfortunately, he is a prisoner of an entity who is the embodiment of pure chaos known as the Ecruos (which is what spelled backwards?). The two are at war for control of the Plain, which is dominated by an enormous tree.

The tree is almost assuredly Yggdrasil the world tree from Norse mythology, furthering the New Gods’ connection with that world.

But the tree is dying due to the actions of the Ecruos until Orion seizes on the solution: He gives the Anti-Life Equation to the Ecruos. The collision of ultimate Chaos with ultimate Order destroys the being utterly. What is the relationship between these two forces and the Source?

Let’s ask Walt: “I think that the Ecrous represented complete and total entropy, the total corruption and disintegration of all order and rational thought in the universe. The Source was an opposing vision to that representing the wellspring of life and free will, and was the opposite of both the Ecrous and the Anti-Life Equation, both of which represented in their own way the complete negation of Free Will, the first through total anarchy and the second through ruthless order.”

Orion is returned to Earth and encounters Slig of the Deep Six in issues #19–20, a crossover with The Last Laugh, a Joker-centered series that was running at the time.

Defeating his aquatic adversary, but exhausted from his recent travails, Orion is easy prey for the agents of the evil Arnicus Wolfram, another villain that dates back to Kirby’s time.

Making his situation even worse, they have Apokoliptian technology, and while capturing him use a device called an Oedipus Crown to blind him!

“After having fallen to temptation through the Anti-Life Equation, I wanted Orion to suffer and fall into the depths before earning redemption,” Simonson tells BACK ISSUE. “He’s a pretty grim character and I felt blinding him was a pretty grim fall. He had, after all, been somewhat sightless already in his use of the Equation, not understanding where it was going to take him.”

Orion endures his captivity for a while, believing it just punishment for his misuse of the Anti-Life Equation.

He finally reconciles his past deeds and is freed with the

The End is Nigh Unbranded Jim Starlin/Matt Banning cover art to Death of the New Gods #1 (early Dec. 2007).

TM & © DC Comics.

help of Lightray, who has been searching for him since he disappeared in his battle with the Black Racer.

Simonson’s use of Lightray is directly influenced by Jack Kirby. “I saw Lightray as a strategist, whereas Orion is more a tactician,” he comments.

“Jack actually had Orion refer to Lightray as a planner at the climax of the Deep Six story, ‘The Glory Boat!’ (New Gods #6, Jan. 1972). I tried basing my notions of Lightray primarily on that story.”

Over the next few issues, our hero proceeds to disrupt Wolfram’s criminal network while tracking down the top dog—all the while blind, remember.

Finally, in issue #24 (May 2002), Orion discovers Wolfram has used more of the Apokoliptian technology, this time a device called a Temporal Bender, to travel back to 1952. Orion “persuades” Metron to let him use his Möbius chair to follow him. Hmmm, lots of people get Metron’s help that way, don’t they?

Following Wolfram back in time, Orion finds the villain setting a trap for him on the Eniwetok Atoll, hoping to leave Orion helpless when the first hydrogen bomb in history explodes. Our hero turns the tables, however, leaving his foe to be obliterated in his stead. Before this happens, Orion rectifies his current plight by stealing the villains’ eyes and using them to replace his missing ones! He also manages to offer up Simonson’s take on the foundation of the Fourth World. Walter himself describes it this way: “The New Gods are gods who manifest primarily through technology, like Metron’s Möbius Chair or the Mother Boxes. They are gods for a modern world, hence the name ‘New’ Gods.”

How did Wolfram come by all of that Apokolips-based technology?

Justeen, of course! Darkseid confronts her with this as well as the knowledge that she was responsible for Tigra’s death. Justeen explains that she feels Darkseid will never be safe as long as Orion is alive. Darkseid lets her off and even expresses some admiration. Meanwhile, we are aware that Justeen has a crush on the big gray guy. And so does Mortalla. So much so that she warns her rival off and demonstrates her conviction by killing a guard in front of her. Ah… love, Apokolips style.

TWILIGHT OF THE GODS The series ends with issue #25 (June 2002), The year 2007 saw the debut of The Death of the New Gods, featuring a meeting between Orion and Scott Free. a series designed, obviously, to kill the characters off!

The huge revelation of the issue is that Free possesses The fact that he had prior experience with the characters, the Anti-Life Equation and has for quite some time. as well as having his name almost inexorably linked The difference, of course, is that he is capable of with cosmic goings-on and death in the comics world, possessing it without using it. Knowing this we meant that it probably came as no surprise that Jim jim starlin can now understand how Scott was able to resist Starlin was tapped to do away with the Fourth World.

Orion’s control back in issue #15. According to Kim Scarborough / Wikimedia Commons. “[DC executive] Dan DiDio approached me and said Simonson, “I got the idea of giving Scott the Equation from a they were gonna kill [the New Gods] off,” commented Starlin in BI #48. question my wife, Weezie, asked when I was working on the title. “That was gonna lead into a re-introduction.”

She thought it was interesting and odd that Orion, a child of hell Relating his feelings regarding the characters themselves, Starlin told who was raised in heaven, could nevertheless be such a terrific and Dan Phillips in an interview on ign.com, “The New Gods and that whole terrible warrior, and that Scott Free, a child of heaven who was group, they were potential more than anything else. Jack created tremendous raised in hell, could be so restrained and generally mellow. Had their potential, and few people could match up with what he was going to do.”

The eight-issue series begins with citizens of Supertown and Apokolips upbringings had no effect on them?

“I got interested in the question of Scott, who is such a contrast to dying with holes in their chest while members of the Forever People Orion, and eventually hit upon the notion of giving him the Equation are seen nearby. Strangely, Takion feels nothing when these gods are so that his external nature doesn’t begin to be a reflection of his inner sent to the Source. Metron investigates, and both he and Desaad life, only a shadow of it. Scott Free had to learn to be completely independently come to the conclusion that the gods are being killed sublime within his being at all times, a genuine master of his inner by having their souls ripped out. Himon accompanies Takion to world, in order to restrain the Equation permanently. It’s anathema to the Source Wall to try and determine what has severed Takion’s link, everything he believes and wants. So ironically, he was the perfect but they find a second Wall that contains all the recently slain gods. vessel for the Equation in a way that Orion, the fiercest warrior among Takion is surprised and killed by the being slaying the gods.

On Earth, after Big Barda is killed, Superman accompanies Scott Free all the New Gods, was not.”

Scott helps Orion regain his confidence after his recent feelings of back to New Genesis and stays to aid the New Gods. Scott meanwhile failure, while Orion surreptitiously aids Free, and all is reset once more. begins to use the Anti-Life Equation to hunt down the murderer.

By issue #5 (Mar. 2008), Metron has located the force behind the After Orion ended, the denizens of the Fourth World once more frequented the DC Universe, until it was decided that drastic measures killer. It is a spherical representation of the Source. It seems the Old were required.

Gods disrupted the Source and split it in two many years ago. The being Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 23

Mister Miracle’s Last Stand From Death of the New Gods #7, Scott Free runs into trouble on this unlettered Starlin/ Banning original art page, courtesy of Heritage.

TM & © DC Comics.

encountered in Cosmic Odyssey was in fact not connected to the Anti-Life Equation at all, it was the dark half of the Source and a barrier had been built between the two halves.

The light half that remained created the Fourth World and has now realized that since it was only half of itself when it created them, they are flawed. Its agent is taking back their energy while the Source plans to unify itself and use the slain gods’ essence to create a perfect Fifth World.

Orion decides to use himself as bait to attract the killer, but his plan succeeds beyond his scheming and he is killed. Superman and Mister Miracle travel to inter his soul in the Source Wall where, suspected throughout the series, the Infinity Man reveals himself to the duo as the killer. By this point Scott Free has become a much angrier character and attempts to take his revenge. In that ign.com interview Starlin stated, “I have put Mr. Miracle through a lot of changes. Because Mr. Miracle is just basically this good guy. I think I’m going to get more sh*t for what I do to Mr. Miracle than anyone else.”

Miracle is tricked into destroying the barrier between the two halves of the Source, allowing it to reunite.

But Darkseid has a plan. Being aware of the Source’s scheme, he realized what the unification of the Forever

People into the Infinity Man has always meant. When the souls of New Gods are combined, their power increases exponentially. So Darkseid steals the power the Source was storing in that second Wall. Meanwhile, the Source is not without its wiles as well. It has held the soul of Orion in reserve to battle Darkseid. The dark lord does escape, but the Source’s plan is completed as the worlds of New Genesis and Apokolips are once again driven together into a world meant to house the Fifth World beings.

Starlin ran into a few problems as the series approached its end. On ign.com he related the issue this way: “DC had certain requirements, which changed considerably as the series has gone on, because it’s connected with Countdown. We’re still meddling with the very end of it.

I’m on the eighth issue right now, and I’m having to hold back a bit until we settle up some minor points between Countdown and the New Gods.”

Still, this was to be the end for all the characters Kirby created, save Darkseid and possibly Orion. In that ign.com interview Starlin wrapped up his role in things by stating, “I wanted to end Jack’s story, and this pretty much ends it. Not the way I’m sure some people would like, but it does tie up who everybody is. You discover what the Source is, and that’s something Jack would have eventually done himself. There’s no telling whether he would have gone anywhere near where I’ve gone with it, but you know….”

Though it is too involved to go into the whole thing here, the loving father-and-son story would carry over into the concurrently running weekly series Countdown where in issues #3–1 (it was called Countdown, after all) Orion finally defeats Darkseid and literally rips his heart out! It didn’t last, though, as that series led into Final Crisis, in which Darkseid’s essence is cast to Earth and takes over the mortal body of Kirby creation Terrible Turpin and Orion is once again killed.

Starlin did say there were some minor points to settle up between the two series, didn’t he?

After that, DC produced the Flashpoint event in 2011, which it used to restart all the titles within the New 52. Darkseid was the villain in the flagship title Justice League, Orion quickly returned in Wonder Woman, and almost all of the gods returned in the Green Lantern titles for the “Godhead” storyline in 2014.

All of them seemed to be the same characters that were killed in Death of…, so we will see where they go from here.

As this article was being written, in August 2017, in celebration of Jack Kirby’s 100th birthday DC Comics published a number of Fourth World– centric Specials and launched a new Mister Miracle 12-issue limited series, following its Young Animal imprint’s miniseries Bug!: The Adventures of Forager, which launched in May 2017. All of this certainly reinforces the belief that Kirby’s creations will live on as long as there is a DC Universe. And probably longer. They are gods, after all.

The author wishes to thank Gerry Conway, Paris Cullins, Paul Kupperberg, Tom Peyer, Rachel Pollack, Walter Simonson, and Roy Thomas as well as Michael Eury, James Heath Lantz, and Bill Walko for their assistance in composing this article.

BRIAN MARTIN continues to find the Source of pure comic-book enjoyment with each new comic he reads and each BACK ISSUE article he writes or reads.

24 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

by J a m e s

“People of Earth, I am Darkseid, Lord of Apokolips! Here is your savior, bound and broken! I have crushed him as easily as I have crushed all who have dared to oppose me throughout the cosmos. I am power unlike any you have known: absolute, infinite, and unrelenting! You have no choice but to prepare for a long, dark future as my subjects… and my slaves.”

– Darkseid, from the Superman: The Animated Series episode “Apokolips… Now!” Few beings in comic-book fiction can be called pure evil.

Yet, Darkseid, tyrannical ruler of Apokolips, can be described in such a way. In addition to striking fear into the hearts of his subjects and using his powerful Omega Beams, Darkseid’s need for universal domination and his obsessive quest for the Anti-Life Equation make one wonder if he wants to destroy all that exists in his efforts to control it. BACK ISSUE will look at ol’ Stone Face’s post–Kirby history in the Bronze Age of Comics while, at the same time, look inside the character to see what makes him such a diabolical villain.

APOKOLIPTIC HISTORY

Heath Lantz

When looking at the mind of DC Comics’ most malevolent despot, one needs to also look at his history. It’s been said that Darkseid’s look was based on actor Jack Palance, who had played his share of baddies in television and cinema, including Gotham City’s mob boss Carl Grissom in Tim Burton’s 1989 blockbuster Batman. [Editor’s note: As reported in BACK ISSUE #6, artist Gene Colan also drew inspiration from Jack Palance with his original illustration of the bloodsucking protagonist of Marvel’s Tomb of Dracula.]

However, the King of Comics modeled the Fourth World villain’s character after the most evil dictator of the 20th Century, Adolf Hitler, whose atrocious acts of genocide still have an impact on humanity today. Jerry Boyd’s “Fascism in the Fourth World” in The Jack Kirby Collector #22 examined Kirby’s interpretation of Adolf in Darkseid in detail.

“Hitler is mirrored somewhat in Darkseid,” Boyd wrote.

“In writings on and recollections of the Fuehrer, his desire for war is apparent. In his book Mein Kampf, the young Hitler expresses his desire for a large Germanic living space—Lebensraum—which would take place not in

The Omega Man The diabolical Lord of Apokolips, as rendered by Chris Burnham for the cover of the 2017 Darkseid Special #1, part of DC Comics’ Kirby 100 celebration.

TM & © DC Comics.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 25

colonial possessions overseas, but in Europe. What if the Europeans (the present possessors) object? ‘Then the law of self-preservation goes into effect; and what is refused to amicable methods, it is up to the fist to take.’ He went on to write, ‘Mankind has grown great in eternal struggle, and only in eternal peace does it perish…’

“Darkseid is the archenemy of peace,” Boyd continued. “ ‘Wielder of holocaust! Disciple of power and death!,’ Orion describes [Darkseid] as he stands before the demon’s statue in New Gods #1.”

Adolf Hitler was not the only inspiration for Darkseid, as TwoMorrows publisher and Jack Kirby Collector editor John Morrow tells BACK ISSUE. “As for his [Darkseid’s] creation, this would’ve been the late 1960s, while Kirby was still at Marvel Comics, before he jumped ship to DC, Mark Evanier is on record saying Jack was channeling Richard Nixon when writing Darkseid’s dialogue. Kirby hated Nixon.”

Evanier also stated that Jack Kirby would “cast” his characters, meaning he’d model or base aspects of their looks or personality on someone he saw or knew. He wrote in his text piece in DC’s Darkseid Special #1 (2017) that Jack Kirby didn’t model Darkseid on Jack Palance: “All Kirby took from the man [Jack Palance] was a certain manner in his speech and a certain swagger in his facial expressions… john morrow and those were just points of personal reference for Kirby. I defy you to find any trace of one Jack in the work of the other.”

Another way to understand the mind of Darkseid is to look into his philosophy. This is something Jack Kirby delves into in New Gods #7’s “The Pact” from 1971 and much later, in the year 2000, Walter Simonson looks at this in his Orion series. However, Rick Veitch and Alfredo Alcala also explored this in Swamp Thing vol. 2 #62 (July 1987) after the title character saved Metron. A four-page conversation between Metron and Darkseid takes place afterwards. The High Lord of Apokolips states that he needs knowledge to solve the Anti-Life Equation, and that there will be no room whatsoever for intellectuals in the universe when he solves it.

The reason Veitch decided to discuss Darkseid’s ideology becomes clear in what he informs BACK ISSUE: “My own goal in bringing the Darkseid character into Swamp Thing was to return him to his original nefarious and complex glory after years of being a generic Super Friends villain.”

One can also see similarities in Darkseid’s origins in biblical tales and Greek tragedies and myths. King Yuga Khan and Queen Heggra of the planet Apokolips had two sons—Uxas and Drax. Uxas was second in line for Apokolips’ throne. However, the ambitious prince follows Drax to the Infinity Pit, kills him, and takes the Omega Force, a birthright intended for his brother, who later becomes the Infinity Man. Uxas is transformed into a being with gray rock skin, taking the new name of Darkseid after one of the most

Dark Sides (top) Adolf Hitler and Richard M. Nixon imprinted Kirby’s Darkseid. (bottom) Writer/ penciler Rick Veitch’s interpretation of Darkseid, from Swamp Thing #62 (July 1987).

Inks by Alfredo Alcala. Original art courtesy of Heritage Comic Auctions (www.ha.com).

Hitler photo credit Heinrich Hoffman / Wikimedia Commons.

Nixon photo credit US Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Darkseid and Metron TM & © DC Comics.

26 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

feared gods in the lore of old. The God Formerly Known As Uxas learned that his becoming Darkseid was part of Heggra’s plan because in her eyes Drax’s love of peace made him unworthy of the Omega Force.

Somewhere along the way, Darkseid fell in love with an Apokoliptian scientist and sorceress named Suli.

Suli would bear a son named Kalibak with Darkseid after they had wed. However, things were not happy for this royal couple. Feeling Suli’s peaceful ways had corrupted her son, Queen Heggra ordered Desaad to poison her.

Heggra had arranged for her son to marry Tigra, who gave birth to Orion, the son sent to New Genesis. However, the death of Suli caused Darkseid’s heart to match his visage, and in a “What Goes Around, Comes Around” scenario that would make Justin Timberlake say, “I told you so,” the stone-faced prince had Desaad do to Heggra what had been done to Darkseid’s Suli. With his mother deceased, Darkseid became the absolute ruler of Apokolips, and his reign of terror was just beginning.

While some elements of Darkseid’s beginnings are revealed during Jack Kirby’s original Fourth World saga, it was John Byrne who added more to the character’s villainous origins.

“What struck me as interesting is that NO ONE wrote in to either praise me for my story, or condemn me for stepping on Kirby’s toes,” Byrne stated in his Byrne Robotics forum. “Apparently, I pulled it off in such a way people simply assumed I was reiterating something Kirby had already done!”

Byrne would go on to discuss Darkseid in Byrne Robotics and TwoMorrows Publishing’s Modern Masters: John Byrne: “Except where otherwise credited (a fan had given me the idea for Darkseid’s brother becoming the Infinity Man) it was about 99.9% me. I did the origin of Darkseid!

And oddly enough, I thought I was going to get crucified for it, and I didn’t get a single complaint about that. And I thought perhaps people saw the same thing buried in there somewhere. I remember the first time that I read the New

Gods and Heggra, Darkseid’s mother, is introduced. And I sort of thought, ‘Darkseid had a mother? Darkseid was born?’

And I couldn’t wrap my brain around ‘Li’l Darkseid’ running around being a little stone baby! No! So he must have been something else. And that was how the whole origin of Darkseid came to be, and that is where I think on Fourth World I was able to take it to some different levels.”

AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE MEETS AN IMMOVABLE OBJECT

Like many villains with their own ideas and philosophies on world—or in his case multiversal—conquest, Darkseid refuses to change his way of thinking or being. He simply refuses to budge when it comes to pretty much anything, making him an immovable object. Darkseid really had his work cut out for him when he met an unstoppable force in the form of Marvel’s Devourer of Worlds, Galactus, in the 1995 DC and Marvel co-published Darkseid vs. Galactus: The Hunger one-shot. In a tale that seems to have tightly woven the continuities of both comic companies in what could be considered a prequel to Jack Kirby’s Fourth World

Clash of the Titans (left) Cover to John Byrne’s Darkseid vs. Galactus: The Hunger. (right) Autographed original art to the one-shot’s final page, courtesy of Heritage.

Darkseid and Orion TM & © DC Comics. Galactus and Silver Surfer TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 27

saga and Fantastic Four #48–50, Galactus hungers. His herald, the Silver Surfer, arrives on Apokolips, seeing it as the perfect sustenance for his master. He signals Galactus while battling Parademons. However, neither cosmic character from the Marvel Universe counted on meeting the malevolent Darkseid. The tyrannical leader of Apokolips even says to Desaad something that describes his unflinching personality: “Powerful this new intruder may believe himself to be, and powerful he may well be, but on this world he will find his match is met.”

On New Genesis, Highfather receives a cryptic message: “Hide the World.” Not content to just sit idly while the other New Gods watch the conflict on their sister planet, Orion, the son of Darkseid, feels he should be in battle. This is perhaps due to his wanting to destroy his father with his own hands, but the warriors’ code makes him feel he must do something in spite of Darkseid being the bitter enemy of the New Gods. As both Darkseid and Galactus use every weapon and trick at their disposal, Orion and the Silver Surfer clash. Yet, it is in the Surfer’s belief that he

came from nothing that gives the Dark Lord of Apokolips the advantage he needs over the Devourer of Worlds. Repressed recollections of Norrin Radd’s life before he became the Silver Surfer, brought out by one of Desaad’s machines, are believed by Darkseid to be compassion on the part of Galactus to spare his herald the pain of the horrors he had helped cause. Darkseid soon learns that Galactus actually blocked the Silver Surfer’s memories of his former life because he knew that his herald would one day betray him. When that time comes, it will be the World Eater who gives Norrin Radd his recollections back as punishment.

Darkseid and Galactus’ discussion does not save Apokolips from the Devourer of Worlds’ mechanisms as he prepares to feed on the grim, burned planet. However, Galactus is in for a surprise. His devices find no life energy on Apokolips. The world is merely a husk, while New Genesis was given said life energy. Galactus wonders why Darkseid chose to fight him until he realizes that both he and the stone-faced tyrant are prisoners of their own nature. With that, Galactus follows the Silver Surfer to find a planet to cure his hunger as he realizes Darkseid will not permit him to feed on New Genesis, a planet that the despot feels he should crush himself.

John Byrne, via his Byrne Robotics forum, talked about how Darkseid vs.

Galactus: The Hunger was born from a fan’s idea. “I was at a con—don’t recall which one—and the aforementioned fan approached and said he had an idea for a DC/Marvel crossover: ‘Galactus tries to eat Apokolips.’

I was sitting next to George Pérez at the time, and we looked at each other with kind of, ‘Why didn’t we think of that?’ expressions on our faces.

“Flying home,” Byrne continued, “The more I thought about it, the more I realized what a great idea it was, especially if I could convince the Powers-That-Were that it should be only Darkseid and Galactus, and not FF vs. New Gods or any other such expanded version.

I pitched the idea to DC, who immediately liked it, and set wheels in motion. Then I embarked upon the difficult task of finding the fan so I could give him proper credit.”

That fan at the convention, according to the credits for Darkseid vs. Galactus: The Hunger, was Marc Galinis McFinn. His five-word phrase got the ball rolling on one of Darkseid’s greatest moments with characters outside of the DC Universe.

Darkseid could be considered the immovable object during his conflict with Galactus, the unstoppable force.

Yet, the descriptions for both characters can be switched due to Darkseid’s Omega Beams and Desaad’s devices’ dan jurgens ability to harm the Silver Surfer. However, the High Lord of Apokolips met a truly unstoppable force Gage Skidmore / within the DC Universe in the form of the creature Wikimedia Commons. who killed Superman—the rampaging Doomsday.

His battle with Doomsday in Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey showed the dark god defeated and near death at the gargantuan hands of Doomsday, who is called the Bringer of Extinction and the Armageddon Creature on Apokolips. When asked about Darkseid’s role in Superman/Doomsday, Dan Jurgens tells BACK ISSUE, “Darkseid’s appearance was very much what we had in mind from the start.

It illustrated the point we wanted to make quite well. Using Darkseid was my idea, though anything like that obviously is part of a larger story discussion I had with editor Mike Carlin. We thought it would be a great idea to help show Doomsday’s level of power.”

And show it, Jurgens did, for Darkseid truly didn’t stand a chance against Doomsday, who arrived on Apokolips in derelict cargo freighter. Its crew, heading for Apokolips for commerce, was slaughtered by the alien force of destruction. The monster’s protruding bone claws on its knuckles tore into the stone-faced tyrant. Point-blank Omega Beams blasted at the beast had no effect on him. Darkseid’s defeat by Doomsday to the brink of death not only caused severe injury to his body, it was an extreme

Backstabber Doomsday gets the best of Darkseid in Superman/ Doomsday: Hunter/Prey, posing a dilemma for the Man of Steel. By Dan Jurgens, with Brett Breeding inks.

Scans courtesy of James Heath Lantz.

TM & © DC Comics.

28 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

DC’s Main Menace (left) By the time 1986’s Legends crossover occurred, Darkseid had become the DC Universe’s most dangerous threat.

Cover by Byrne. (right) 1998’s New Year’s Evil: Darkseid #1. Cover

by Jason Pearson.

TM & © DC Comics.

blow to his ego. The fact he was beaten by a power he couldn’t have for his own just scratches the surface. An adversary had seen him bloodied and broken. Worse yet, that same foe, Superman, saves his life with a Mother Box, wounding his pride further, though he would likely never show it openly to an enemy like the Last Son of Krypton. In fact, Darkseid refused to ask for help from L.E.G.I.O.N. or the Darkstars (the Green Lantern Corps was not an option at the time) when Doomsday was laying to waste his dark world. He saw assistance from others as a sign of weakness. Darkseid tells Desaad, “All the Hells of the universe will be long frozen over before I let the cosmos believe us weak!” One could possibly surmise that Superman’s saving Darkseid’s life may have broken the evil monarch’s spirit worse than his combating Doomsday.

Another thing that could have chafed Darkseid’s stone backside is that he had a debt with one his greatest foes. To pay off the Man of Steel in classic Darkseid fashion, he orders him to deal with Doomsday and the Cyborg Superman, who’s consciousness was stored in a receptacle on the creature’s back. Darkseid also knows that Superman would not let both menaces who are attacking Apokolips remain free to destroy Earth or any other world in the universe. This could also be an example of the dark god’s use of manipulation like Satan, Loki, and others in mythology and dogma. In every case Darkseid fought some unstoppable forces and immovable objects from Marvel and DC’s Universes while being in both categories during those conflicts, and he didn’t break a sweat even when he himself was broken.

CROSSOVER APOKOLIPS

While Kirby’s Fourth World saga, including The Hunger Dogs, reads like an epic novel, post–Kirby appearances of its characters included some major crossovers among the DC superhero titles. Legends, chronicled in detail in BACK ISSUE #82, prominently featured Darkseid. G. Gordon Godfrey, in reality Glorious Godfrey, is following Darkseid’s plans to discredit the post–Crisis DC Universe heroes, making them ineffective so the evil god can rule the Earth and have its inhabitants worship him as he believes they do with the likes of Superman and Batman.

Legends, upon examining Darkseid’s role in it, is about the villain’s pride.

This is something many antagonists feel, but it’s even greater if said antagonist is a god like Darkseid. He cannot accept that a world such as Earth does not bow to him and give him the accolades he feels he deserves.

This intergalactic Hitler is clearly perturbed that first, Superman and the rest of the costumed adventurers who battle the forces of darkness are in his path to conquer Earth and the multiverse, and second, someone other than Darkseid himself is the center of Earth’s attention. Yet, instead of acting like a toddler having a tantrum, the God Formerly Known As Uxas plots and schemes against those who take away his time in the spotlight.

Among the comics to come from DC in 1997 was the crossover event Genesis. No, there is neither a cameo from Phil Collins, nor will we be discussing the first book in The Bible or see Spock’s rebirth. This Genesis centers around the characters of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World and the rest of the DC Universe. The Godwave, an interstellar force created from the Source, first created the various gods of mythologies throughout Earth when it first struck the planet. Now it’s returned, causing superhuman powers to be disrupted. Darkseid wants the Godwave’s power for himself, and Highfather, Orion, the New Gods, and DC’s resident heroes must stop him from taking it for his nefarious means.

Upon looking at Darkseid’s role in Genesis, one can see this is yet another of his quests to become almighty. His endless thirst for power is his obsession, his white whale. Yet, like his other attempts, this one leads to a not-so-great end for the Apokoliptian despot. He’s imprisoned in the Source Wall.

Genesis has gotten a lot of criticism over changing the nature of some superhumans’ abilities to manifestations of the Source. According to the Byrne Robotics forum, John Byrne had other plans for Genesis until DC Comics changed them. Byrne wanted to originally do the story in his Wonder Woman run. Yet, it was relegated to a company-wide crossover that meshed in with Byrne’s work on Jack Kirby’s Fourth World.

“The Powers-That-Were decided they could do a better job of screwing up my story if they made it a company-wide crossover,” Byrne stated.

“I was partly in charge of the Genesis crossover, and one of the first ‘rules’ I laid down was that there would be no rules, at least not in the sense of crossovers of years past, where editorial seemed to choose almost at random which titles would be involved and when. In Genesis, I said, editorial offices could join in when they wanted, have their characters be involved as much or as little as they wanted. Quickly I learned why past crossovers had been so arbitrary. People waited until the last possible moment to decide when their characters would appear, and then demanded major roles for those characters. Everybody wanted

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 29

THEIR guy (or gal) to save the day. It was an unholy (word chosen deliberately) mess!!!!”

Like his inspiration Adolf Hitler and other dictators in history and various forms of fiction, Darkseid uses fear to control his populace.

The poor on Apokolips, his own minions such as Granny Goodness and the Female Furies, and even his own son Kalibak are frightened of failing him. Doing so could mean the worst of any punishment from banishment to the fire pits and torture to a barrage of Omega Beams and even death.

There are two 1990s events in which we get a look at Apokolips, but Darkseid is not anywhere to be seen, 1995’s Underworld Unleashed and early 1998’s New Year’s Evil. Yet, he inspires and instills horror in the hearts of those living on that grim world.

While heroes and villains alike in the sights of the demon called Neron in 1995’s Underworld Unleashed, Darkseid has been consumed by the Source. There is a power struggle in Underworld Unleashed: Apokolips Rising, a one-shot that takes place after the events of New Gods vol. 4 #1 and 2 as Neron pits one faction against one another by indirectly revealing strategies. Insurrection and civil war run amok on Apokolips. Yet, the appearance of Darkseid and the worldwide fear of him quell the unrest. Targa, the leader of the Hunger Dogs fighting to free his comrades, is forgiven his transgressions, but someone must be punished as those Targa commanded become cannon fodder for Omega Beams. Targa suffers a loss greater than any defeat in battle with Darkseid returning to the shadows, only to be revealed as Desaad in disguise, for he knew terror could control all. If Apokolips was scared into thinking Darkseid wasn’t dead, its people would be easier to control.

New Year’s Evil, while smaller in scale than most company-wide events, was no less important for the villains of the post–Crisis DC Universe as it shows what being scared of Darkseid can mean even without the tyrant’s physical presence.

During the New Year’s Evil: Darkseid one-shot by John Byrne, Sal Buscema, and Keron Grant, Darkseid himself is imprisoned in the Source Wall after the events of Genesis. On Apokolips, Granny Goodness and Desaad are at each other’s throats, and the people living on the charred planet know nothing of what has happened to their monarch. Kanto the Assassin arrives to warn them of an attack on Apokolips from Virman Vundabar and his Deathwings. There is bickering among the trio of Darkseid’s henchmen until Kanto tells Granny and Desaad that their greatest weapon against Vundabar is fear.

After Parademons are slaughtered, a Mark VII Pacifier is deployed.

Piloted by Granny Goodness and Desaad, the juggernaut separates into two machines. Granny takes on Vundabar’s warships while Desaad infiltrates Vundabar’s command vessel that is plummeting toward the monolith statue of Darkseid. The gigantic stone form of the dark lord comes to life with Darkseid’s essence, ripping Vundabar’s craft as if were paper. Tired of the petty squabbles and power struggles, Darkseid tells his minions that this wasteful expense of so much of his energy—like that all of Apokolips consumes in a year—and those who caused him to use it will not be forgotten when he escapes from the Source Wall.

Granny Goodness and the others should use their resources to battle New Genesis and aid Darkseid’s multiversal conquest. When he is free, none shall stand in Darkseid’s path to complete domination of all that exists. In other words, Darkseid need not be in the same plane of reality, let alone the same room, to inspire terror in all who serve him.

APOKOLIPTIC MEDIA

In addition to wreaking havoc in the pages of various DC comic books from the Bronze Age to the present day, Darkseid has appeared in other forms of media. Various toy lines have featured the character’s likeness.

Perhaps the most famous is the 1984–1986 Super Powers collection, comprising not only the classic Justice League members like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, but also many of the heroes and villains Jack Kirby created for his Fourth World saga, including Darkseid.

Kirby even received some of the only royalties of his long career for redesigning his characters for the action figures’ producers at Kenner, and the King of Comics even drew some of the Super Powers tie-in comics for DC that featured Darkseid.

Darkseid’s first appearance outside of comic books was in the cartoon Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show in 1984.

Legendary voice actor Frank Welker played Darkseid and his son Kalibak throughout the characters’ appearances in Hanna-Barbera’s version of the DC Universe. V, Total Recall, and Highlander II: The Quickening actor Michael Ironside portrayed the Lord of Apokolips in Bruce Timm’s Superman and Justice League animated series. On the video-game front, Darkseid appears in Justice League Heroes and Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham portrayed by David Sobolov

Darkseid for Kids (left) As you’ll read in this issue’s Backstage Pass article, Darkseid’s first foray into animation was on Saturday morning’s Legendary Super Powers Show. (right) The first Darkseid action figure, from Kenner’s Super Powers line, and (inset) its bonus mini-comic.

TM & © DC Comics.

30 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

(Omega) Beaming Aboard (left) Darkseid, mastermind of Secret Society of Super-Villains #3 (Sept.–Oct. 1976).

Cover by Ernie Chan (Chua). (right) Darkseid, architect of “The Great Darkness Saga.”

Cover to Legion of Super-Heroes #294 (Dec. 1982) by Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstedt.

TM & © DC Comics.

and Travis Willingham, respectively. Darkseid’s reign of terror in cartoons and games continued in such outings as Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, Injustice: Gods Among Us, and Young Justice, with a slew of talent voicing the maniacal despot, including the Prince of Parodies Weird Al Yankovic in Teen Titans Go! Speaking of parodies, Bongo Comics, producer of titles based on The Simpsons properties, spoofed Jack Kirby and his Fourth World with art that even mimicked the style of the King of Comics in the pages of Radioactive Man. Darkseid’s character is called “Backseid” in a tale that pokes fun particularly at Kirby’s Jimmy Olsen and the opening issues of New Gods, Forever People, and Mister Miracle.

Darkseid hasn’t just been in animated and video game projects and parodies. Live action film and television have become new home for the High Ruler of Apokolips. He was part of Smallville’s tenth and final season as a non-corporeal being in most of his episodes possessing the likes of Lionel Luthor and others.

Fan-made Justice League: Dawn of Apokolips had Ruselis Aumeen Perry portray Jack Kirby’s Fourth World’s antagonist. On the aborted movie front, director Bryan Singer has said he wanted to use Darkseid in his sequel to Superman Returns that Warner Bros. canceled in favor of Man of Steel. The DC Extended Universe, which Man of Steel started, includes Darkseid-based story elements that appeared in Batman v. Superman and Justice League. The tyrannical lord of Apokolips has grabbed ahold of much media outside of the comic-book page with his iron fists, and he doesn’t seem to show any sign of letting go anytime soon.

Beware Backseid Batton Lash, Dan DeCarlo, Mike Royer, and Bill Morrison spoofed Kirby’s Fourth World Saga in Bongo Comics Presents Radioactive Man #9 (Nov. 2004).

TM & © Bongo Entertainment, Inc.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 31

THE OMEGA MIND

Looking at Darkseid’s methods and how his mind works, he has been known to use a direct approach as he did with Doomsday and the Silver Surfer. Yet, like other dark gods of lore and dogma, he also works in the shadows while his minions carry out his plots. Perfect examples of this are in early issues of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World comics, in which we see him giving Morgan Edge and Intergang orders, and The Secret Society of Super-Villains, where, as Robert Greenberger put it in his look at the SSOSV in BACK ISSUE #35, “The Lord of Apokolips apparently wanted the Society to be Intergang 2.0.”

Greenberger’s words do ring true. Yet, Darkseid is also one who uses whatever and whoever he can for his own personal quest for power and the Anti-Life Equation. Anyone else is either a pawn on his chessboard or

“Contemplating Kirby Dots” According to this 1988 Ty Templeton/Joe Rubinstein sketch, Darkseid has Kirby Dots as well as the Anti-Life Equation on his mind. Courtesy of Heritage.

Darkseid TM & © DC Comics.

Art © Ty Templeton and Joe Rubinstein.

an obstacle in his path of multiversal domination. Yes, Darkseid has crossed time and dimensions because one universe is not enough for the likes of this dark god. The classic Legion of Super-Heroes serial “The Great Darkness Saga” showed that Darkseid’s evil is not limited to DC comic books set in the present day, and he’s traveled to parallel worlds as recently as the New 52 when he and his armies obliterated Earth 2, forcing the refugee population of superheroes and normal humans to seek out a new planet to call home in Earth 2: World’s End. This means the High Lord of Apokolips is not content with only one time or one world as most villains would be. He’ll stop at nothing to have power, wield it, and use it in hopes of solving the Anti-Life Equation, even if it means destroying time and the multiverse itself. rick veitch When asked by BACK ISSUE what they felt makes Darkseid tick, so to speak, Comicvine. creators who have brought the Great Dictator of Apokolips to life in the pages of DC Comics share their viewpoints.

“Considering the man who created him and the age he lived in,” states Rick Veitch, “I’ve always seen Darkseid as the embodiment of fascism.”

“I think concepts of good and evil are a little inadequate for Darkseid,” opines Dan Jurgens. “But, as much as anything, I think Darkseid exists to expand his empire, almost like one of those, ‘If you aren’t moving forward, you’re dying’ types of situations.

“I can tell you this… he’s clearly Kirby’s most significant DC creation.

When I wrote him in Adventures of Superman #595, I remember thinking that this character was almost too big to fit on a page, so to speak. It almost diminishes him to simply insert him into a story or see him drawn on the page next to any other characters—even Superman. Darkseid is bigger than that. As an idea, as a concept… it’s like he’s beyond what any creator could physically depict in a comic book. But, y’know, we keep trying.”

These are just some of the many impressions of Darkseid by those who’ve crafted much of the villain’s stories and history after Jack Kirby left DC Comics. The stone-faced dictator, like the rest of the Fourth World saga’s characters and settings, has left an impact on the DC Universe, comic readers, writers, and artists. In fact, August 2017 saw the release of special one-shots featuring Darkseid and many of Jack Kirby’s creations for DC. An omnibus containing Kirby’s entire runs on Jimmy Olsen, Forever People, and New Gods, along with The Hunger Dogs graphic novel, should have also arrived by the time of BACK ISSUE #104’s publication. All of these were part of DC Comics’ celebration of King Jack’s 100th birthday. They prove that like many characters and mythologies throughout the course of history, Jack Kirby, the Fourth World, and its antagonist Darkseid have left a legacy that is burned into the hearts and minds of fans with a fire that is hotter than those in the pits of Apokolips.

Special thanks to Brian Martin for his invaluable assistance and input. Dedicated to my beautiful and incredible wife Laura, who is always the Beautiful Dreamer of my heart; Pupino, Odino, and our four-legged New Gods; my nephew Kento, the true wielder of the Omega Force; the late Jack Kirby, and all the creators past, present, and future of Darkseid’s many plots and schemes. May the Source always watch over you.

JAMES HEATH LANTZ is a freelance writer who was heavily influenced by television, film, old time radio shows, and books—especially comic books—growing up in Ohio.

He’s co-authored Roy Thomas Presents Captain Video with Roy Thomas. He also wrote the introductions for Pre-Code Classics: Weird Mysteries vol. 1 and 2 and Roy Thomas Presents Sheena – Queen of the Jungle vol. 2 (all published by PS Artbooks); self-published his Trilogy of Tales e-book (available at Smashwords.com and other outlets); and reviews various media for Superman Homepage. James currently lives in Italy with his wife Laura and their family of cats, dogs, and humans from Italy, Japan, and the United States.

32 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

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After Kenner’s initial wave of Super Powers action figures, which were released in 1984, Jack Kirby’s Fourth World began to propel the narrative of this DC Comics superhero toy line. Thanks to DC top executives Jenette Kahn and Paul Levitz, Kirby was brought in to adapt many of his characters for toy exploitation. As our own fearless leader John Morrow tells BACK ISSUE, the Mister Miracle illustration below was part of “the ‘redesign’ of the Fourth World characters for Super Powers, spearheaded by Levitz and Kahn, to work around the rules so Kirby could have some royalties from the characters’ (re-)use in toys and comics. There’s a whole series of these: Darkseid, Orion, Kalibak, Mantis, Heggra, Desaad, etc.” (George Pérez received a similar Super Powers deal for Cyborg.)

Not all of the aforementioned Fourth Worlders made it to the toy racks, but many did: Darkseid, Desaad, Kalibak, Mantis, Parademon, and Steppenwolf in Series Two (What? No Granny Goodness?), and Mister Miracle and Orion in Series Three.

Kenner also produced the Fourth World-inspired accessories the Darkseid Destroyer and the Kalibak Boulder Bomber… …but if Jack had gotten his way, the whopper of a Darkseid-themed playset shown on the opposite page would have been available at a toy store near you.

The Darkseid Bunker Silo went unproduced, but Kirby’s designs show that the King’s unbridled imagination was not limited solely to the comic-book page.

Jack Kirby original art scans courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). Special thanks to John Morrow and Mark Evanier.

ichael Eury

Mister Miracle TM & © DC Comics.

by M

34 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

Darkseid and related characters TM & © DC Comics.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 35

Step right up, ladies and gentlemen. Come to the center ring, ye old gods and ye new, and behold the daring wonder of the World’s Greatest Escape Artist—the man known as Scott Free, the astonishing Mister Miracle!

No trap can contain him! No prison can hold him! A hero!

A showman, created by the boundless imagination of the King of Comics, Jack Kirby! Mister Miracle! A hero that can escape anything!

Except for one thing—cancellation!

That’s right—since Jack Kirby exited DC Comics in 1975, one year after his Mister Miracle ended with issue #18 (Feb.–Mar. 1974), DC has tried and tried again to recapture that old Kirby magic and forge Mister Miracle into a solo success. So now, let us turn our house lights to center ring, where we examine the post–Jack Kirby history of one of DC’s most fascinating and colorful characters—the great Mister Miracle!

BIG SHOES TO FILL DURING THE SECOND GREAT ESCAPE

DC must have known that any character created by “the King” could lead to great creative and financial success.

After all, Marvel Comics is indeed the steve englehart House that Kirby helped build. So it stands to reason that DC tried to steveenglehart.com. squeeze more juice out of the Fourth World family of characters, and leading the way was Mister Miracle… sort of. Two months after the cancellation of Kirby’s Mister Miracle, the World’s Greatest Escape Artist teamed with Batman in The Brave and the Bold #112 (Apr.–May 1974) in a Bob Haney/Jim Aparo story that is probably best considered out of continuity—especially since it paid no heed to events in Kirby’s last MM issue. Mister Miracle also was seen in a Fourth World revival in the “Return of the New Gods” tale in 1st Issue Special #13 (Apr. 1976), which gave way to a New Gods revival (as detailed in this issue’s lead article), and shortly thereafter Haney and Aparo re-teamed Batman and Mister Miracle in B&B #128 (July 1976). DC’s Fourth World revival was now underway.

The first writer to get a post–Kirby crack at a solo Mister Miracle series was scribe Steve Englehart, freshly arrived at DC. “I came to DC to do Batman and Justice League of America,” Englehart revealed via his blog at steveneglehart.com.

“But Marshall Rogers and I had some free time so they revived Mister Miracle for us (continuing the numbering from where Jack Kirby had left off years before).”

Which begs the question, did Englehart feel any trepidation in following in the footsteps of Jack Kirby?

“Not really,” Englehart reveals to BACK ISSUE. “I’d followed him, in some sense, on Captain America, and then Avengers, and so forth. Though his Fantastic Four was directly responsible for my wanting to do comics, I wasn’t in awe of him.

And in the case of the Fourth World, I’d been severely disappointed to discover what a bad writer he was. So I knew, as a professional writer, I could outdo him there.

Miraculous Comeback The World’s Greatest Escape Artist returns, in the pages of Mister Miracle #19 (Sept. 1977). Cover art by Marshall Rogers.

TM & © DC Comics.

36 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

TM

by M a r c

Buxton

Meanwhile, On Earth-B… The first two Batman/ Mister Miracle team-ups, written by Bob Haney and illustrated by Jim Aparo, in The Brave and the Bold #112 (Apr.–May 1974) and 128 (July 1976).

TM & © DC Comics.

I guess my only trepidation was, the Fourth World was very identified with pages—not bad). Granny Goodness appears as a hologram and tells him, and I would be showing him up. But as I say, I was assigned to it by DC.” Scott that if he wants to ever see Barda again, he must strip himself of Nothing if not bold, Englehart journeyed into the Fourth World with the Mother Box and enter the mine without his greatest weapon. This loss mission statement of taking what Kirby created and bringing it to the next of Mother Box allows Englehart to address a weakness the writer level. DC was willing to let Englehart do his thing. “DC had hired me to perceived in the character. “Kirby’s problem, throughout the Fourth World, revamp every character I could,” Englehart says. “And I’d made clear that was he thought good ideas and good visuals were all he needed,” I could only do that right if I had the same freedom I’d been given at Marvel, Englehart contends. “Thus, Mister Miracle could do almost anything so they just wanted Englehart on Mister Miracle, whatever that meant.” and, if he bothered to explain how, it was just hand-waving. I tried to Aiding and abetting Englehart was his frequent collaborator, the great get to the reality of the escapes, and really, the reality inherent in the Marshall Rogers. Englehart and Rogers would go on and do a legendary whole series. That was my goal in rejuvenating the book.”

Mister Miracle #20 (Oct. 1977) presents a tale that sees Scott Free race run together on Batman in Detective Comics, but the writer and artist team supreme cut their DC teeth on bringing Mister Miracle back to to the Moon to rescue Barda. Where issue #19 is grounded in character and prominence for DC. conflict, issue #20 starts out with that ol’ cosmic Kirby magic. As Miracle While Kirby was brash and unrestrained, delivering mind-bending frees himself from the mine, he quickly tries to reconstruct his discarded creations at the speed of thought, Englehart was meditative and took more Mother Box. Scott Free taps into Mother Box and converses with his of a contemporary sci-fi take on Mister Miracle and his extended family greatest ally. Mother Box tells Scott that the power of a god was within of allies and adversaries. Englehart recollects that “Kirby’s creativity on the him all along, and all of a sudden, Mister Miracle no longer needs to rely non-writing side was still working great. I just had to find the essence of on gimmicks and gadgets as Mother Box awakens his godlike powers. those guys inside the word-salad they’d been wrapped in,” and in Some might think that simply giving Mister Miracle superpowers Mister Miracle #19 (Sept. 1977), Englehart and Rogers, along strips him of what makes the character so special because with with editor Denny O’Neil, began to attempt to do just that. powers, Scott Free isn’t a superhero Houdini anymore, but an A Rogers cover featuring an exaggeratingly huge atypical cosmic hero. Whether one likes a superpowered Granny Goodness battling Mister Miracle greeted readers Mister Miracle or not, the idea is still an interesting direction as Mister Miracle returned to comic racks. The issue kicks to debate. One month after Mister Miracle #20, Scott Free returns to Brave and Bold for another continuity-blind off with a splash-page reintroduction of Scott Free as Batman team-up (in issue #138, Nov. 1977).

Englehart informs readers that Mister Miracle is really Englehart was not the only creator bringing daring four beings: a god, a man, a superhero, and an escape artist. The writer opens things on New Genesis with Scott changes to the world of Mister Miracle. Marshall Rogers’ Free and Barda lamenting that they cannot participate art was almost sedate when compared to Kirby’s, but in the war between New Genesis and Apokolips. his visual stylings added a level of relatable humanity Highfather shows up to remind his son that he once to the pedal-to-the-metal Fourth World adventure. willingly gave Free to Darkseid and the tortures of “Marshall brought the same craft he’d brought to larry hama Apokolips and will not do so again. Then, the familiar the Batman,” Englehart says. “Marshall’s pencils were “BOOM” fills the bottom panel of page three as the sort of gray overall… But in terms of working with action begins. Dr. Bedlam, Granny Goodness, Vermin Vundabar, and Kanto Marshall—we were a well-honed team by then.” all emerge from the Boom Tube and take the fight to Scott and Barda.

Issue #21 (Dec. 1977) features Larry Hama’s debut as editor as Quickly, Mister Miracle and Oberon use Mother Box to track the Mister Miracle’s search to cure his wife begins. Hama was a relatively evil gods to a mine in Utah (from New Genesis to Utah in just a few new editor at DC and was assigned a range of titles. Hama tells BACK Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 37

ISSUE that Mister Miracle “was part of the package of books I took over—Wonder Woman; Warlord; Super Friends; Welcome Back, Kotter; Jonah Hex, and some odd special projects like The Wiz [an unpublished movie adaptation, as revealed in BI #11— ed.]. An eclectic collection.” Rogers truly shines as he channels more Al Williamson than Kirby and creates an unforgettable rendering of Apokolips that really scratches that traditional sci-fi itch. In addition to the amazing art, it is interesting to see Darkseid make an appearance before he became the ultimate DCU big bad. The Mister Miracle post–Kirby revival serves as a bridge between the era of the King and the era where Darkseid would be propelled into the supervillain stratosphere.

Mister Miracle #22 (Feb. 1978) would see the end of the Englehart and Rogers era, as the writer headed oversees. “I told DC going in that I’d only be available until a certain date,” Englehart says, “and so, I only did a few MMs. In the abstract, I’d have liked to have seen what Marshall and I could have done with him over the long haul, but that wasn’t in the cards.”

Englehart and Rogers’ time playing in the Fourth World might have been brief, but one could argue that it helped the Fourth World characters in general and Scott Free in particular remain vital parts of the DC Universe. As for Englehart and Rogers’ last hurrah, in MM #22, Mister Miracle makes his way through Darkseid’s minions to take on the master himself. Instead of allowing the hero of the book to shine, Englehart makes Darkseid the ultimate cosmic badass and leaves readers with the words: “There are gods, and there are gods—and then—there is Darkseid.” A unique way to end the run on the book he helped revive, but then again, Englehart has always been a daring writer. When asked if he had any long-term plans for the book that he never got to see come to fruition, Englehart replies, “No, I was moving the story forward issue by issue, knowing that after those few issues, I’d be gone.” It would be up to others (in this case, Steve Gerber) to shoot for long-term goals.

marshall rogers

Marshall Miracle (top) Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions, original art to Marshall Rogers’ cover for Mister Miracle #20 (Oct. 1977), featuring a liberal amount of Zip-A-Tone. Cover inks by Vince Colletta. (bottom) Rogers’ dynamic layouts and sound effects bolster the excitement of this tussle on page 16 of MM #20.

TM & © DC Comics.

A STRANGE TRIP BEGINS

And indeed, Gerber would arrive on the book next issue, along with artist Michael Golden.

Portrait by Michael Netzer.

As a writer, Gerber was anything but boring.

His time on The Defenders and “Guardians of the Galaxy” in Marvel Presents stands as a testament to the fact that when he put his endlessly creative mind to it, Gerber could spin one hell of a cosmic yarn. In Mister Miracle #23 (Apr. 1978), Gerber picks up where Englehart left off. In the final panel of issue #22, Darkseid sends Scott Free spinning via Boom Tube off Apokolips and into the unknown. Gerber instantly brings in the cosmic surrealism he was known for as Mister Miracle lands on a giant cosmic chessboard and meets the androgynous alien known as Ethos. Things get even stranger when Ethos tells Scott that in order to become the messiah figure he wishes to be, Mister Miracle must escape his own perceptions of self and of reality. All of a sudden, Miracle is transported into a middle of a literal death race as all the New Gods, including Darkseid, are in the midst of a Wacky Races–like competition around a cosmic track. If you ever wanted to see Darkseid tooling around in a jaunty jalopy, well, here’s your chance.

The cosmic strangeness continues in Mister Miracle #24 (June 1978). This issue opens with Mister Miracle rejoining and saving Oberon from Darkseid’s Photon Patrol on Apokolips.

Scott Free’s power fluctuations continue as he defeats the minions of Apokolips by channeling the anger and panic of a nearby legion of ants and harnessing it to defeat the patrol. Scott stands amazed as he realizes he now can mimic the abilities of a Mother Box, and readers are left wondering what exactly Scott’s abilities consist of.

In this issue, Gerber explores and parodies one of his favorite topics, the ever-expanding role of media in society. Scott Free wants to be viewed as the new savior of the human race, so he plans to perform an impossible escape on live TV. Miracle and company travel to Las Vegas, where Scott Free is welded into a casket and dropped into the Colorado River. Of course,

38 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

Michael Miracle (top) Michael Golden— as inked by Russ Heath!— on the page 2–3 spread from Mister Miracle #24 (June 1978). (inset) Cover to Mister Miracle #25 (Sept. 1978), what turned out to be the series’ final issue. Cover layout/pencils by Al Milgrom, with re-penciling and inks by Russ Heath. (bottom) A poor photocopy of the Golden/ Heath cover intended for MM #26; from Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #2.

TM & © DC Comics.

Mister Miracle escapes and appears in front of the gasping onlookers in a very Christ–like pose. Gerber postulates that the next messiah will be created on TV, and his idea of a media messiah is explored through the actions and escapes of Mister Miracle.

As for the art, Golden mirrors Rogers by crafting classic sci-fi visuals that serve as a perfect blending of space opera and michael golden superhero action. As awesome as the artwork © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. is, not everyone internally at DC was a fan of Golden’s copious skills. “I had two (in my opinion) very strong artists on the book—Marshall Rogers, and Michael Golden,” Hama recollects.

“So nobody was all that intimidated. But neither Rogers nor Golden had big names at the time. In fact, I got a lot of flak about Golden because the old guard thought his work looked too ‘cartoony.’ So, yes, I was trying to move things forward, but maybe the stuff was too ahead of its time.”

The idea of Scott Free as a media messiah is a good one, but alas, Gerber and company would not have time to fully explore it, as issue #25 of Mister Miracle (Sept. 1978) would sadly be the last. In this finale, Scott Free pontificates about the nature of freedom, but this message of freewill disturbs Darkseid, who is observing his wayward adopted son from the confines of Apokolips. Scott Free takes down Granny Goodness as the brutish old woman promises to find his nemesis—his Lucifer, his antiChrist—to finally defeat his messianic notions.

The next-issue blurb teases a 26th issue entitled “Freedom is a Four-Letter Word,” but fans would never experience this Mister Miracle adventure.

As Hama puts it, the quick cancellation of Mister Miracle was due to a “total lack of interest from readers and management.” There may have been a lack of fan interest in 1978, but we intrepid voyagers in comicbook history are still interested, and as Hama informs us, there was work completed that has remained hidden behind the Source wall for Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 39

TM & © DC Comics.

decades. “There was a complete issue drawn by Michael Golden and inked by Russ Heath that never saw print,” Hama tells BACK ISSUE. “I’d love to see it rescued from obscurity, because it was pretty damn good.”

[Editor’s note: There’s more to the story of Mister Miracle’s cancellation. The title fell prey to the infamous DC Implosion of 1978, where the publisher dropped the axe on numerous titles after a period of aggressive expansion called the DC Explosion. Several staff members— unfortunately, including Hama—lost their jobs as a result.

As discussed in BACK ISSUE #2, some of the unpublished material was printed in the two-issue series Cancelled Comic Cavalcade, a low-print-run, black-and-white bundling of material to preserve copyrights. The Golden/ Heath cover to Mister Miracle #26 was included in the contents of Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #2.]

Although the Mister Miracle revival was truncated, it kept the character and concepts developed by Kirby alive and well in the DC Universe. Through Englehart and Gerber’s plotting and the truly gorgeous art by Rogers and Golden, the comic-book world was reminded just how versatile and timeless Kirby’s concepts truly are.

THE REUNION TOUR (SORT OF)

After the first revival ended, Scott Free no longer carried his own title, but DC did not forget about the character.

Mister Miracle teamed with Superman in DC Comics Presents #12 (Aug. 1979), written by Englehart with art by Rich Buckler and Dick Giordano. MM would also take part in a major Justice League/Justice Society/New Gods free-for-all, written by Gerry Conway an drawn by Dick Dillin and George Pérez, in the pages of Justice League of America #183–185 (Oct.–Dec 1980). [Editor’s note: Dillin, JLA’s longtime illustrator, died during production of issue #183, leading to Pérez quickly stepping in as his successor.] But that was it for Scott Free, Barda, and Oberon, for a while, as the cosmic direction crafted by Englehart and Gerber was left as a fascinating but brief chapter in Mister Miracle’s post–Kirby history.

DC’s 1977 Mister Miracle revival may have been a cosmic gaunt through Kirby’s great Fourth World concepts and characters combined with the cosmic zeitgeist of such contemporary flare as Marvel’s Warlock and Captain Marvel, but in 1987, DC went back to the Kirby-krackling roots of the character and presented Mister Miracle Special #1. Longtime Jack Kirby confidant and unofficial co-plotter of the original Mister Miracle series Mark Evanier was aboard as writer, and as artists, DC called on student-ofall-things-Kirby Steve Rude (penciler) and longtime Kirby collaborator Mike Royer (inker). While the previous MM series tried to move past the tropes and rhythms of the King, this 1987 Special embraced Kirby’s out-there concepts in all their groovy glory while packaging the Mister Miracle idea for a modern audience. While Scott Free and friends did not make many appearances between 1978 and 1987, there were huge things in store for Mister Miracle in the post–Crisis on Infinite Earths era of the DCU. “Everything Jack did appeals to me,” Rude tells BACK ISSUE. “In a Jack Kirby story, one can review the great truths of life, were one to have the ability to accept them for what they are beyond pure ‘academic-style’ correctness. I’ve seen many of these snobby, over-intellectualized comic writers from back in the ’70s finding fault with what Jack wrote during this period. I’ve come to know his style of telling stories on a different level than these experts, and have only known endless benefits from re-reading them for all these years now. They seem to get stronger with every examination. And just when Jack was building these Fourth World books to the greatest singular achievement in the entire history of comics, [then-DC publisher] Carmine Infantino canceled them.” The Englehart and Gerber run stand as fascinating experiments, but Rude did not reference either run when preparing his Special. “I only refer to the source itself—the ones that Jack did,” Rude says, and indeed, when a voyager into comic-book history cracks open the Mister Miracle Special (1987), he or she is immersed in that old Kirby magic of yesteryear.

“I was just trying to capture Jack Kirby without resorting to what others might’ve done,” Rude admits. “By using his personal style of anatomical slashes within his figures or say, using his energy dot stylisms, I wanted to see if I could keep his characters on model without resorting to outright

Scott Free-for-All (inset) Superman and Mister Miracle crossed paths in DC Comics Presents #12 (Aug. 1979).

Cover by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano. (left) Courtesy of Heritage, an action page from that issue, written by Steve Englehart, penciled

by Rich Buckler, and inked by Giordano.

TM & © DC Comics.

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copying.” And indeed, Rude’s opening splash page is “on model” when it comes to Kirby, but the co-creator of Nexus’ unique eye for detail and layouts shines.

Rude’s admiration for Kirby is obvious, but one has to wonder if Rude discussed the Mister Miracle Special with the King before embarking on this journey to the Fourth World. “No, I sure didn’t,” Rude says.

“Jack wouldn’t have wanted to be bothered by me trying to get his blessing on a Mister Miracle book not done by him.

Besides, knowing Jack, he would only have told me to be myself.”

Mister Miracle’s return begins with Scott Free attempting a daring escape (natch). In a series of brilliantly designed Rude pages, Mister Miracle locks himself in a safe and plunges from an airplane. It’s interesting that Evanier chose to open with the escape-artist angle rather than with the god-prince or cosmic-deity angle. Right away, this Special separates itself from the Englehart and Gerber series by focusing on the superHoudini aspect of Scott Free over the cosmic grandiosity of the previous series. The opening also foreshadows the direction Miracle and Barda would find themselves on throughout the most of the 1980s. As Scott Free seemingly plunges to his doom, Barda laments, “My husband has just perished in a stupid test of Supertown machismo… He couldn’t settle for a normal life away from the threshold of death?” In subsequent appearances of Miracle and Barda, it is the former Female Fury who will long for a normal life while her husband longs for adventure.

Into this family squabble steps another Kirby creation, the Stan Lee parody Funky Flashman, who arrives during Scott and Barda’s quarrel. Barda chases off Flashman as Scott Free agrees to not return to his life of daring escapes and adventures—much to the chagrin of the suddenly-third-wheel Oberon. The absolute delight both Rude and Evanier are experiencing bringing Kirby’s classics to life is clearly evident. Rude lovingly renders his figures with a definitive Kirby look but uses modern layouts and transitions to give everything a contemporary feel, while Evanier humanizes Kirby’s characters but keeps them grounded in the characterization established by Kirby in the early ’70s. steve rude The Special captures Kirby’s spirit and much to Rude’s delight, the one-shot also appealed to the King himself. “The only © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. thing I ever really knew about our book is a really wonderful thing that Mark Evanier recited to me one day,” Rude remembers. “He reported that when Jack himself saw the book we’d done, he’d said that we captured the essence—the spirit of his characters—without having to steal his actual style.

What a great compliment.” Rude also gives credit for the Special’s artistic success to its writer, Mark Evanier. “I thought Mark’s script came together very well. It had all the things that any good story is best served containing: drama balanced by humor, and all those important moments of action and their contemplative emotional counterparts. He did a great job on our Mister Miracle story.” All these years later, parts of Evanier’s script still stand out to Rude: “The addition of Funky Flashman was what held the story together in humor and drama. I remember laughing out loud at what Mark wrote for good old ‘Funky the Flunky.’ ” Rude still has a fondness for Kirby’s DC creations and would be open for a return engagement to the bright lights of Mister Miracle’s Fourth World. “I’m always up for taking on the Kirby characters,” Rude says. “Other than my own ongoing work on Nexus, the Kirby creations are some of the few that have ever resonated for me within comics’ 100-year history.”

Mister Miracle’s past obstacles to solo super-stardom aside, after the Special, DC was about to build a whole new thrilling chapter in the saga of Scott Free.

In the Mister Miracle Special, DC ran a house ad for its new Justice League comic, and Mister Miracle was front and center in this daringly different Justice League roster. In the Evanier and Rude Special, Mister Miracle escapes obscurity, but now, as part of DC’s premier team, Miracle would take his place in a title that would take the comic-book world by storm.

Ladieeeeees and Gentlemen! (inset) Cover and (top) page 1 from the Mark Evanier/Steve Rude Kirby one-shot, Mister Miracle Special #1 (1987). Interior inks

by Mike Royer. (bottom) Scott Free calls out Darkseid in this stunning Evanier/Rude/Royer page from MM Special #1. Courtesy of Heritage.

TM & © DC Comics.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 41

BWAH-HA-HA BEGINS

The classic cover to plotter Keith Giffen, scripter J. M. DeMatteis, and penciler Kevin Maguire’s Justice League #1 (May 1987) features many unexpected faces. Gone are the familiar Leaguers like Superman, Wonder Woman, Barry Allen Flash, and Hal Jordan Green Lantern.

Instead, heroes like Captain Marvel, Dr. Fate, Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), Blue Beetle, a newly introduced female Dr. Light, and our god of the hour Mister Miracle are front and center, along with League stalwarts Martian Manhunter and Batman. Mister Miracle isn’t the only unexpected inclusion in this new and fresh Justice League as Scott’s Free’s pal Oberon also plays a major role on the team.

Even with a legend like Jack Kirby at the helm, Mister Miracle was always a tough sell to readers, but now, as a part of a genre-changing book like 1987’s profoundly humorous Justice League, the bright spotlight of success was shining on Scott Free like never before. Why was Mister Miracle, a character that had always existed on the edges of the DC Universe, now part of the company’s premiere super-team?

“All those decisions were made before I came aboard,” DeMatteis tells BACK ISSUE. “But my understanding is that the team was pretty much dictated by the powers-that-be. That said, I was delighted, because Kirby’s Fourth World books are among my favorite comics of all time.”

Right away, Mister Miracle fit into the unique, over-the-top, sitcom–like dynamic introduced by the daring creative team. Mister Miracle served as a bridge between the more serious characters like Batman and Dr. Fate and the more tongue-and-cheek/zany heroes like Guy Gardner, Blue Beetle, and the soon-to-arrive Booster Gold. Mister Miracle was able to utilize his awesome abilities to help his crew of unlikely Leaguers escape any situation, but he was also able to be just one of the boys and stand in when stooges like Beetle and Booster needed a “Shemp” for an issue or two. In the pages of the Justice League, Mister Miracle had finally found a home, and so did Oberon, who served as somewhat of a de facto strategist and babysitter to the often-wacky League. DeMatteis himself enjoyed finding a unique role for Scott Free in the League’s team dynamic: “As with all the relationships in our League, it really evolved naturally. The characters led us, we didn’t lead the characters. There’d be a bit of conversation on the page and something would spark between the characters. They would define themselves, their relationships, and, in many ways, our job was to allow those relationships to unfold on their own and stay out of the way. Sounds crazy, but it’s true.”

Justice League #1 has become one of the most iconic single issues of the post–Bronze Age period, and the third and fourth new members of DC’s flagship team to step into the pages of Justice League were Mister Miracle and Oberon. Oberon tells Scott that being part of the League will “skyrocket” box office, but Mister Miracle seems reluctant, an emotion Oberon soon shares when Guy Gardner famously calls Oberon “Sneezy” and asks Miracle’s best friend where the six other dwarves are. This exchange pretty much defines the rhythms and dynamic moving forward. Mister Miracle becomes a key element of this unique team’s foundation from the opening moments of the first issue, but Oberon as part of the League may seem like a strange inclusion.

Think about it: Wonder Woman, Flash, and Aquaman aren’t part of the League, but Oberon is? Yet, it’s an inclusion that DeMatteis would not change for the world. “I always thought Oberon was a great character: smarty, feisty, heartfelt, grumpy,” DeMatteis recollects. “As noted, he was in place from the beginning—so it wasn’t my decision—but I was glad he was there. That he became such a pivotal part of the team goes to what I said earlier: the characters leading us. His chemistry with Max[well Lord], with Fire, these all happened on the page and led us forward. I can’t imagine Justice League without Oberon.”

In the first year or so of Justice League, Mister Miracle basically stays in a supporting role, although outside of its pages, he appears in a Superman team-up in the John Byrne-produced Action Comics #593 (Oct. 1987), the conclusion of a controversial two-parter that started the previous issue with Big Barda. In this tale, Sleez tries to force the mind-controlled Barda and Superman into making a porn film.

Back in Justice League, the more attention-grabbing, zany characters like Beetle, Booster, and Guy command the page, but Mister Miracle is a stable presence in the book. In issue #7 (Nov. 1987) of Justice League’s new direction, the book changes its title to Justice League International, and in this issue, Giffen and DeMatteis foreshadow the future direction for Mister Miracle and his extended family. Firstly, Oberon becomes the

assistant to the new owner and operator of the League Maxwell Lord.

This new position allows Oberon to be front and center in many important moments of League history as he ironically begins to rub shoulders with all of DC’s power players. As for Scott Free, in issue #7, Mister Miracle contacts Big Barda, who chews out her husband for always being away on League business. This is Barda’s first appearance in the “Bwah-ha-ha era,” but it will not be her last. This new dynamic as Scott Free as the henpecked hero and Barda as the powerhouse housewife who just wants to live a normal life in the suburbs would propel the characters moving forward as Giffen and DeMatteis found a humorous direction for Miracle after the World’s Greatest Escape Artist spent the opening issues of Justice League in a supporting role.

As the series progresses, Mister Miracle bounces back and forth between competent New God strategist and screwball. It may not have been synching with some of the directions and

42 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

character traits Kirby had established, but Mister Miracle was getting more page time than ever before in one of DC’s bestsellers.

Mister Miracle plays an important role in Justice League International #12 (Apr. 1988) as the New God Metron arrives to investigate the mysterious origin of Maxwell Lord. The hot-headed League jumps into combat Metron, but Scott Free keeps his fellow New God from wiping out his League comrades. This is the first interaction of another member of the Fourth World with Scott Free and his Justice League and allows the creative team to deftly weave in some of Miracle’s background.

Justice League International #14 (June 1988) gives readers a bit of suburban slice-of-life comedy as Booster and Beetle visit Scott and Barda’s cozy home. Big Barda makes her famous lasagna for the boys as Mister Miracle tries to understand American football. After reading all the non-Kirby Mister Miracle work that’s out there, one will find that this is indeed the most human appearance at that point of Scott and Barda as Scott Free’s warrior wife treats the boys to her mayonnaise-filled lasagna (and if that doesn’t sound like a dish from the hell pits of Apokolips, I don’t know what does). This little bit of suburban hilarity is interrupted by newly introduced villain named Manga Khan, a cosmic baddie who would have major implications on Scott Free’s life moving forward.

In issue #15 (July 1988), the League investigates the arrival of the aforementioned Manga Khan. Khan is a cosmic entity who travels the galaxy looking to make a profit through intergalactic trade. While taking a closer look at Khan’s ship, Mister Miracle comments that his wife could be a boon to the Justice League. Right after this musing, Scott Free is teleported aboard the ship and becomes lost. Barda is not happy about this turn of events and dons her battle armor to find Scott. Scott’s disappearance is the first time a JL story focused on the Mister Miracle character as Scott Free becomes the main player in the saga of Manga Khan. Things get dire for Miracle in Justice League International #16 (Aug. 1988) as Manga Khan jumps his vessel into hyperspace just as Barda and the League arrive to attempt a rescue. At this point, it looks like Scott Free could be lost to his beloved forever. In issue #17 (Sept. 1988), things get even worse when Manga Khan discovers Scott Free’s New Genesis origins and sets a course for Apokolips to attempt to barter a deal for Mister Miracle with Darkseid. Of course, having Oberon and Barda as supporting characters in this adventure really drives home the gravity of the situation as Miracle’s wife and his sidekick are desperate to find the lost escape artist.

Justice League International #20 (Dec. 1988) goes full-Kirby as a fighting-mad Barda joins with the Apokolips unground as Manga Khan attempts to trade Mister Miracle in exchange for Boom Tube technology. It’s ironic that the first JLI story that utilizes the Fourth World also has Scott Free unconscious throughout the entire issue.

But Big Barda is up front and kicking butt as she gains new weaponry including a new Mega-Rod that allows the League members to teleport off Apokolips to bring back League reinforcements. This Fourth World storyline was pretty much the introduction of Big Barda as a full League member, something that was long overdue, according to DeMatteis. “It was a pretty natural thing,” DeMatteis says. “She’s married to Scott, she’s a kick-ass warrior, a fantastic character. Why wouldn’t we want her there?”

Justice League International #21 (Winter 1988) sees the end of the raid-on-Apokolips storyline with some intense Fourth World action. Darkseid intervenes in the chaos and returns Scott Free back to Barda and the League claiming that he had “no use for this pure-souled whelp.” An issue after Scott is rescued, JLI #22 (Holiday 1988) features Oberon taking on shrunken alien invaders in a crossover with DC’s Invasion!, which spotlights just how clever and capable Oberon has become as part of the League.

JLI #22 also features the first house ad for a monthly Mister Miracle series. The image shows Big Barda and her escape-artist husband in the familiar American Gothic– style pose. The new series would be written by DeMatteis and drawn by Judge Dredd artist Ian Gibson. Since DC had established Miracle and Barda as a suburban couple trying to lead a normal life away from superheroic chaos,

TM & © DC Comics.

A League of His Own (center) Mister Miracle joins the Justice League! The iconic, oft-duplicated cover to JL #1 (May 1987), by Kevin Maguire and Terry Austin. (inset) MM and pals in the grip of trouble on Maguire and Al Gordon’s cover to JLI #11 (Mar. 1988). (background) Detail from the Ty Templeton cover of JLI #20 (Dec. 1988).

TM & © DC Comics.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 43

the characters now had a clear and unique direction, one that DeMatteis thought was a natural fit for a monthly. “Well, we were already leaning into the humor on JLI and we had the setup where Scott and Barda were trying to live a normal life,” DeMatteis tells BACK ISSUE. “That reminded me of the old sitcom Bewitched, where Samantha and Darrin were trying to be so-called normal people but all these crazy relatives kept popping in and disrupting that normalcy. Given that Scott was the son of Highfather, an escapee from Apokolips, and a member of the JLI, the idea that all he and Barda wanted was to be the Cleaver family [of Leave it to Beaver fame] seemed ripe for both comedy and drama.”

WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?

A suburban dramedy springing out of Kirby’s Fourth World saga might seem like an odd fit, but with the popularity of the sitcom-like JLI, it also seemed like this unlikely direction for Mister Miracle and company could finally lead MM to solo success. The suburban bliss begins in Mister Miracle #1 (Jan. 1989), where DeMatteis and Gibson introduce Miracle and Barda’s new status quo. In this debut issue, Oberon serves as the readers’ POV character as the disgruntled dwarf plods his way through suburbia carping about how much he wishes he and his family would move back to the Justice League Embassy. DeMatteis introduces the small town of Bailey, New Hampshire, as Scott Free becomes the proprietor of Herb’s Fixit Shop. Barda plays the part of super-strong housewife as DeMatteis infuses the proceedings with a classic comedic/Rockwellian vibe. The whole thing may seem like a far cry from Kirby’s explosive cosmic saga, and in fact, it is. At times, it feels like Kirby’s Fourth World characters are being thrust into incongruous roles as the trend of super-funny superheroes that began in Justice League International continues to play out across the DCU. Yet, trend or not, DeMatteis infuses the book with such earnestness that this volume of Mister Miracle is still a fun read. Gibson was a very capable superhero parody artist as satire was a big part the feel over at Judge Dredd and 2000 A.D., at the British publisher where Gibson rose to acclaim.

In the first issue, DeMatteis introduces the Frees’ neighbors and reintroduces the classic Kirby villain Dr. Bedlam, as the notso-good doctor takes on the role of town physician. The whole issue indeed reads like an episode of Bewitched as Scott and Barda try to hide their true identity from their neighbors while finding their place in the white picket-fence paradise of ian gibson their new town. DeMatteis establishes a great deal of conflict Teo Ruiz. and personal angst and establishes themes of suburban claustrophobia that would later be explored in films like Edward Scissorhands.

While the small-town struggle occurs in the monthly Mister Miracle, Scott is still the Justice League’s tech guy, strategist, straight man, and sometime goofball over in Justice League International. In the month after Scott Free moves into his own solo title, he, Barda, and Oberon are present in Justice League International #24 (Feb. 1989) as the League splits into Justice League America and Justice League Europe, with our Fourth World friends remaining in the USA. After all, the Free family now proudly represents Bailey, New Hampshire.

And Bailey was in deep trouble in Mister Miracle #2 (Feb. 1989) as Dr. Bedlam infects the town’s water supply, causing Scott and Barda’s new friends and neighbors to devolve into animals. Through all the madness, DeMatteis allows Scott Free to maintain his humanity as Mister Miracle laments the loss of the wished-for tranquility of his new home. The Fourth World is filled with many great villains, but as DeMatteis tells BACK ISSUE, “My favorite was Dr. Bedlam. I loved the basic premise: a being of pure energy with endless android bodies. And Kirby’s story about the Paranoid Pill is one of my favorite Mister Miracle stories.” (DeMatteis is referring to Bedlam’s first appearance in Kirby’s Mister Miracle vol. 1 #2, July–Aug 1971.)

The sitcom trope of a visit from the in-laws begins in Mister Miracle #3 (Mar. 1989) as DeMatteis and Gibson present Highfather’s suburban arrival.

Highfather is not immune to the inherent wackiness of the world of the League, and by page two of the issue, the ruler of the New Gods watches a spot of television and is called a “yutz” by Oberon. Highfather’s appearance in Mister Miracle’s new solo

New Genesis Gothic (top) Promo for the JLI spin-off Mister Miracle series of 1989. Art by Ian Gibson. (bottom) As Ian Gibson’s covers to Mister Miracle #1–4 (Jan.–May 1989) show, the suburban setting of the book didn’t restrict fantastic storylines during its earliest issues.

TM & © DC Comics.

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book is heartfelt and oh, so human, as DeMatteis deftly explores the complex father/son dynamic between the two New Gods. This exploration in New Genesis familial relations is truly the highpoint of the series, a sentiment DeMatteis shares: “I enjoyed the story where Highfather came to visit and Scott had to deal with his conflicting feelings for his dad.” His joy is palpable, as the writer finds an emotional center to Highfather that no other creator, even Kirby, had yet mined. The whole thing ends with a dinner party and the arrival of the Forever People. [Editor’s note: See Ben joe phillips Herman’s Forever People article, following.] incorruptible heroes ever to join the After the Forever People depart, the League. This is one of the most Fourth Free family has another visitor as Keith Facebook.

World–laden issues of JLI as the creative Giffen joins DeMatteis as co-writer of Mister Miracle #6 team taps into a number of Kirby concepts as the book (July 1989). In this very JLI-centric issue, the kooky canine known for its over the top hilarity suddenly gets serious.

Green Lantern G’Nort drops by Bailey and chicanery ensues as artist Mike McKone comes aboard for a laugh- A NEW NEIGHBOR filled bwah-ha-ha fest.

Things don’t stay serious for long as Blue Beetle and As DeMatteis and company guide readers through Booster Gold stop by Bailey in Mister Miracle #7 (Aug. 1989).

Miracle’s suburban adventures, the Free family still play Blue and Gold aren’t the only new arrivals to the a major role in JLI. In Justice League International #29 suburban world of the Frees, as legendary writer Len (Aug. 1989), Big Barda is the victim of car theft. Sadly, Wein joins DeMatteis on the book. Wein would soon her Mega-Rod is still in the trunk of her car and Miracle, take over the book as DeMatteis’ Justice League workload Barda, and Fire must race to find the weapon before was getting hectic after JLI split into two books—Justice some hapless mortal unleashes its Apokoliptian might. League America and Justice League Europe. “I was leaving The search continues in JLI #30 (Sept. 1989) in a tale the book and [editor] Andy Helfer and I were talking entitled “Teenage Biker Mega-Death.” An unnamed punk about replacement writers,” DeMatteis remembers. murders the thieves that absconded with Barda’s car. This “I suggested Len, who is both an old friend and one of young thug gets his hands on the Mega-Rod and wreaks the best writers this business has ever seen. Andy agreed havoc across Manhattan. This issue actually takes a dark and that was that. We didn’t really co-write anything in turn as the bad guy murders police officers, his own gang, a traditional sense; we weren’t in the same room working and nearly takes down Miracle and his teammates. There on the story. On our transitional issues, I wrote the plots are not many laughs in this issue but by the end, readers and Len scripted. It was his job to interpret/embellish understand that Barda is one of the most powerful and my plot, and he did a superb job.”

Bwah-Ha-Ha-ing (left) The Joe Phillips/Rick Magyar cover of Mister Miracle #7 (Aug. 1989). (right) Phillips and writer Len Wein brought MM more in line with the popular JLI series.

TM & © DC Comics.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 45

Miracle Mania Scott Free headlined the Justice League International Special #1, which was followed by a Lobo guest- appearance in issue #13 (Mar. 1990) of his mag.

TM & © DC Comics.

Whatever DeMatteis’ and Wein’s method was, it delivered some Scott Free and Oberon take part in a Justice League America/Justice fun work, namely the visiting Booster and Beetle facing off against League Europe crossover before returning home for Wein and Phillips’ another new Bailey resident, the classic Justice League villain, Professor first outing without DeMatteis. Mister Miracle #9 (Oct. 1989) introduces Ivo. Once again, Mister Miracle takes a backseat to visiting members readers to Maxi-Man, a down-on-his-luck loser named Henry Hayes, of the JLI, but the issue makes it clear that Wein fit right into the action- who had lost his job and family. Despite the fact that Miracle has to packed and always-fun world of Giffen and DeMatteis’ JLI. play second fiddle to Maxi-Man, Wein does find some moments to Wein was not the only new addition to Mister Miracle, as artist display the classic Scott Free. For the first time since the series began, Joe Phillips also joined the book with issue #7. Drawing the Booster the World’s Greatest Escape Artist escapes something as Miracle saves and Beetle visit in Mister Miracle helped kickstart Phillips’ career at DC. the victims of the blaze by hiding in an unescapable vault. In front of “It was my first book at DC,” Phillips tells BACK ISSUE. “I had been Maxi-Man and the whole town, Scott Free breaks out of the vault doing independent comics like Speed Racer and Interview with the before he and his charges suffocate. Wein also reintroduces Scott’s old Vampire, but I wanted to draw superheroes. I did some fun samples agent Ted Brown to the series as Oberon tries to convince Scott Free with lots of facial expressions and sent them off via Fed Ex… to go on the road again. Wein was trying to find classic Kirby I sent work to four different editors, and Andy Helfer liked elements for his Mister Miracle, but the issue was really my facial expressions and hired me. A day later, I was Maxi-Man–focused, as was Mister Miracle #10 (Nov. 1989), working on Monday. So excited!” where a jealous Hayes battles Mister Miracle for the right Issue #7 was a true trial by fire for Phillips, with to be Bailey’s resident superhero. It all looks gorgeous, tons of guest-stars and action, but the newbie artist as Phillips had a sense of purpose in Maxi-Man’s unique had not one but two comic legends writing Mister design. “He was created to be a very DIY kind of character,” Phillips reveals. “His look was to be something Miracle. Phillips’ art style and sense of comedic timing that anyone could go make from stuff they could buy. was perfect the book and Joe was thrilled to be part of the Fourth World legacy. “I was a big fan of Kirby’s Remember, this was way before cosplay, so there wasn’t style and all the New Gods and I liked that MM was in as much available. I wanted it to flash and have a look Justice League,” Phillips says, “so it was awesome to that seemed believable.”

The lack of Kirby creations was remedied a bit in work on him.” Phillips not only enjoyed the characters Mister Miracle #11–12 (Dec. 1989–Jan 1990) when he was working on, he also enjoyed his collaborators: len wein “The first book I did, J. M. had done it with the artist Funky Flashman and perhaps the oddest Fourth in mind, so for me it was just a ‘Do your best’ kind Marcelo Braga.

World villain of them all—the Head—arrive in Bailey. of thing. Len had a quirky way of writing that was just fun to do, so I Flashman shows up to help Scott and Oberon sell a miraculous had a lot of fun on the book.” cleaning product Scott Free invented using New Genesis chemicals Phillips’ joy was palpable, as seen in Mister Miracle #8 (Sept. 1989), and technology, and right away Wein really gets into the Stan Lee the second part of the Beetle and Booster guest-spot. The JLI members parody and presents a Flashman that fits right into the bwah-ha-ha defeat the Ivo android and transform the foursome into robot duplicates of world of the JLI. In the ensuing battle with the Head’s henchmen, the Beatles. The issue is light, breezy, and funny, but at this point in the series, Scott Free’s fix-it shop and the surrounding block are destroyed and things were moving very far away from Mister Miracle’s Fourth World Mister Miracle must go on tour again to raise money to pay for the origins. The book’s plots were more Three’s Company than Kirby, but no damages. All this leads to even more Scott Free exposure in Justice one can argue that with Phillips and Wein aboard, readers were getting League International Special Featuring Mister Miracle World Tour #1 a slickly produced package that hit all the beats JLI fans were expecting.

(1990) by Phillips, Wein, and Giffen.

46 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

A SPECIAL RETURN ENGAGEMENT

The world of the JLI was getting bigger and bigger, and now on top of a monthly series, Mister Miracle starred in a JLI Special. DC may have been taking Scott Free far from his Fourth World roots, but the exposure for the character had never been greater. Phillips was hard at work on the MM monthly, but this World Tour Special was a welcome addition to the workload, as was its chance to work with Giffen. “Keith is a disturbed quiet madman with great stories that he would lay out panel by panel,” Philips laughs. “All I had to do was not f*** it up and get in his way.

It was a true joy to just be along for the ride.” As for why DC decided to give Mister Miracle the extra exposure in an extra-length Special, Phillips recalls, “I think the story came out at a time when the Justice League was really popular and they needed extra stories to feed the fans that wanted a different kind of superhero. I think it didn’t fit in the current continuity so it was a standalone Special, something fun for the fans.

It’s always nice to get an extra gig when you are on a regular book to have characters you don’t normally get to draw. It was fun.”

It was fun indeed. The Special saw Mister Miracle’s newly minted World Tour interrupted by the returning Manga Khan.

It turns out that Flashman made a deal with Khan so the intergalactic trader could take control of the Mister Miracle–brand soap and force Scott Free to embark on an intergalactic tour.

Anyone expecting a return to the big top in this Special was in for a disappointment, as the issue served as a typical but fun bwah-ha-ha League adventure.

The Special did have huge ramifications for the monthly Mister Miracle title, as Scott Free is replaced with a robot duplicate in order for Mister Miracle and Oberon to embark into space for their forced tour. Flashman accompanies the pair and becomes a regular supporting character in the book. So now, Mister Miracle has left the confines of Bailey for outer space while a robot has joined the Justice League. While none of these story directions could be considered classic Kirby Mister Miracle, the Special marked the height of Mister Miracle’s popularity and exposure at DC.

THE TOUR BEGINS

Mister Miracle #13 sees the prerequisite early-’90s Lobo guest-appearance as the Main Man interrupts Mister Miracle’s intergalactic tour. The issue is an absolute blast with laughout-loud, funny one-liners and well-crafted comedic slugfests, but once again, Scott Free plays second fiddle to Manga Khan, Lobo, and even Funky Flashman. Phillips was happy to have Lobo along for the ride. “Lobo was hot and he was everywhere,” the artist says. “I think he wasn’t used as well as he could have been, but he was fun to draw and I really wanted to do him justice.” This issue also marks the end of Len Wein’s run on Mister Miracle, as the writer passed the Fourth World baton to another respected and endlessly talented comic veteran, Doug Moench.

GUEST-STARS GALORE… AND THE DEATH OF SCOTT FREE?

Moench would be the writer that turned down the house lights on the third attempt at a Mister Miracle solo series, but we have some fun cosmic adventures to cover before we get that final curtain. Moench picks up where Wein left off, with a fighting-mad Lobo out for blood.

While the robot Scott Free is holding down the fort in Justice League America (and providing Giffen and DeMatteis with a handy reason that Mister Miracle can be in space and on Earth at the same time), in Mister Miracle #14 (Apr. 1990), the flesh-and-blood Free takes on Lobo in order to save Manga Khan and his crew. Meanwhile, on Earth, Barda is not aware her husband has been replaced by a robot, and grows increasingly frustrated by his absence.

At this point, plotlines are taking a turn for the generic as Mister Miracle and his new crew must escape a planet of giants in Mister Miracle #15–16 (May–June 1990) as the cosmic tour continues.

On Earth, Barda is growing ever angrier at her husband’s absence while she tries to take down a company involved in animal vivisection. Even though Barda really has no agency in her own story arc, Phillips still enjoyed drawing the classic Kirby character. “I loved/love Big Barda… I had so much fun with her,” Phillips says. “I gave her fun different hair styles and current fashions that made it fun to draw her.” While Barda never looked better outside of when the King rendered her, the mighty warrior plays the role of longsuffering wife rather than kickbutt alien amazon.

The Scott Free–robot storyline leads to some major dramatic irony when Giffen and DeMatteis have the returning classic Justice League foe Despero destroy the robotic Mister Miracle doppelganger in Justice League America #39 (June 1990). Of course, the League thinks Scott Free is now dead and must inform Barda of the bad news in Mister Miracle #16 (June 1990). Things become more Scott Free-focused in the Fourth World-centric Mister Miracle #17 (July 1990) as Moench and Phillips reintroduce Kirby creations (and Barda’s former teammates) the Female Furies. Scott Free’s galactic tour takes him to the familiar confines of Apokolips, and it’s kind of strange that it took 17 issues of a Mister Miracle series to bring in Darkseid and Apokolips.

But the DCU big bad is finally

Deathtrap The short-lived “death” of Mister Miracle. Cover to Justice League America #40 (July 1990) by Adam Hughes.

TM & © DC Comics.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 47

Mini-Me Returns (left) Shilo Norman, introduced in Kirby’s original Mister Miracle series, returned beginning with MM #22 (Dec. 1990).

Joe Phillips/ Bob Dvorak original art page courtesy of Heritage. (right) The issue’s double-MM cover.

TM & © DC Comics.

here as Phillips gets to draw the dark god of Kirby’s imagination for the first time. “I like the dichotomy of New Genesis and Apokolips,” Phillips says. “There is a War of the Roses–kind of family drama that could be a cool as Game of Thrones…” One glance at Phillips’ interpretations of Darkseid and Apokolips show a modern reader that the artist was having a blast bringing some Fourth World greatness back to the pages of Mister Miracle. But this version of Apokolips isn’t without bwah-ha-ha era chicanery as Scott Free and company create a revolution on Apokolips by selling Mister Miracle’s high-tech cleaner to the dregs of the hell planet. Meanwhile, Justice League America #40 (July 1990) contains the funeral of Mister Miracle and the heartbreaking moment where a shattered Barda confronts the League over her beloved’s death as the back and forth between Justice League and Mister Miracle continues.

The battle between Apokolips and Mister Miracle’s crew concludes in Mister Miracle #18 (Aug. 1990) as Scott Free does battle with Granny Goodness while Oberon and company spread Miracle’s cleanser across the filthy planet. Oberon garners an army of soap worshipers, which almost leads to revolution until

Darkseid kicks Mister Miracle and friends off-planet.

These issues were certainly the most Kirby-inspired issues of the series so far, even with the silliness of a super-soap-cleansing hellish Apokolips. Mister Miracle journeys back to Earth and rejoins the Justice League in Justice League #42 (Sept. 1990), where Scott and Barda Free are reunited with a phone call and barely a mention of the destroyed Miracle robot.

The Frees have a more physical and heartfelt reunion in Mister Miracle #19 (Sept. 1990) as Moench teams with artist M. D. [Mark] Bright. Scott Free heads back home to Bailey, but before Miracle and Barda can consummate their reunion, they must defeat the animaltorturing company that is revealed to be a part of Darkseid’s Intergang. Moench once again mines Kirby tropes as Darkseid manipulates his human charges of Intergang to mutate Earth’s animal population in a bid to transform Scott Free’s adoptive world into another Apokolips. Keith Giffen co-writes Mister Miracle #20 (Oct. 1990) with Moench, as Ian Gibson returns to the title for one more issue. This issue reads like an inventory story, but a fun one, as Oberon investigates a series of missing persons and a terrifying Bailey motel. Mister Miracle barely appears in this fill-in, but that would not be a concern with Mister Miracle #21–22 (Nov.–Dec. 1990). as Moench and a returning Phillips give readers not one, but two Mister Miracles.

TWICE THE MIRACLES, TWICE THE FUN

That’s right, in this sudden change of direction for Mister Miracle, Shilo Norman—Scott’s protégé from back in the Kirby days—returns as the Frees abandon the comfy confines of Bailey for Manhattan. In these issues, Scott Free wants to give up being Mister Miracle and finds his perfect chance in Shilo. Since readers last saw Norman in the first volume of Mister Miracle, the young man has become a surrealistic, poetry-spouting, street escape artist. Reading these books today, one

48 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

Another Shot Mister Miracle gets a new lease on life, via writer Kevin Dooley. Cover to issue #1 (Apr. 1996) by Steve Crespo and Marcio Morais.

TM & © DC Comics.

can see that Moench was having an absolute blast bringing Shilo Norman back to the fold, while the new setting of New York City reenergizes the book.

Moench deftly reintroduces Shilo to modern readers and establishes the young man’s motivations to become Scott Free’s replacement.

Meanwhile, Highfather shows up to question why his son is giving up the mantle of Mister Miracle in an issue that greatly juggles many parts of the old Kirby mythos while setting a unique course for Mister Miracle. The 23rd issue of Mister Miracle (Jan. 1991) tells the tale of Mother Box rejecting, testing, and finally accepting Shilo Norman as the new Mister Miracle as Moench continues to develop Norman.

It seems that DC wanted Norman to truly be of equal billing in the title. Phillips remembers, “Shilo was brought in because they had planned MM to be headed off New Genesis. They wanted to get him back to his roots… maybe there was going to be a more New Gods kind of thing, but I never knew about it.” The artist also had mixed feelings about making the young, new Mister Miracle such a focal point of the title. “I remember Shilo from the old Jack Kirby issues, so it was fun to have him grow up and take the mantle of MM,” Phillips says, adding, “I would rather it had stayed Scott and Barda, but I was a new artist with DC and I was just happy for the work.”

Shilo Norman would pay a visit to Scott Free’s teammates in Justice League America #47 (Feb. 1991).

When the League mistakes Norman for Free, the usual insanity ensues as the new Mister Miracle gets a closeup look at life as a Leaguer. Even though Norman’s introduction plays a big part in this installment of Justice League, Mister Miracle is playing less and a less of a role as the Giffen and DeMatteis era begins to wind down.

Things take a small step back to Kirby and a giant step away from the classics as Ken Hooper comes aboard as artist for Mister Miracle #24 (Feb. 1991). an issue where a mysterious New God named Big kevin dooley This issue features the return of the esoteric Fourth Breeda arrives, and after a battle with both Miracles World villain the Lump, a creation of Granny Goodness reveals herself to be Barda’s mother. Through Breeda, that exists in the realm of the Id. While Norman tests Facebook.

Scott Free finally understands the duality of his nature himself against Lump, Barda finds employment with the Bad and and agrees to return to New Genesis to get in touch with his New God Beautiful Babes o’ Wrestling, a GLOW–like group of costumed grapplers. side in the same way he had been attempting to get in touch with his While the battle with Lump is pure Kirby strangeness, the wrestling human side during his time with the Justice League. Shilo and Oberon angle seems like DC finally found a direction too silly for the title. stay on Earth as young Norman takes up the mantle of Mister Miracle.

Now Scott Free had to play second banana to a garishly clad gaggle This finale is a farewell not only to Earth but also a farewell to the of lady wrestlers and to Shilo Norman.

Justice League era of Mister Miracle.

At the end of the letters column, editor Kevin Dooley writes, The wrestlemania continues in Mister Miracle #25 (Mar. 1991), where things get very real in the staged world of wrestling as Barda “In closing, we would like to thank not a god but a King: Jack Kirby… comically fails to understand the rehearsed nature of the grappling We may have bent his vision a bit, but it was always with love and world. Credibility is stretched a bit as Granny Goodness gets involved tribute. We dwell not in his shadow, but in his light.” These words and enhances the strength of one of Barda’s opponents. By the end by Dooley are very fitting because the bwah-ha-ha era of Mister of it all, Barda vows to turn her new wrestling gal pals into a fresh Miracle took Kirby’s concepts and bent, twisted, and lovingly forced team of Female Furies. them into the hilarity of the mega-popular Justice League of Giffen The wrestling action takes place while Scott and Shilo are off with and DeMatteis. the Justice League, but the Mister Miracles return in Mister Miracle That’s not to say mistakes were not made. Regarding the cancellation, #26–27 (Apr.–May 1991), where things take an even sillier turn when Phillips says that the book “got away from the core of the New Gods. a sentient telepathic evil alien noodle takes control of the neighborhood It had lady wrestlers and them trying to be domestic, and just got during the Frees’ housewarming party. It’s the Justice League, the new away from the stuff that makes the Fourth World interesting. It lost Female Furies, and both Mister Miracles taking on a band of beasts direction… it needs to have a different direction and go more toward mutated by the noddle monster. Sadly, the series that once combined his origin, but also delve into his connection with his father and the Fourth World magic with the frenetic JLI signature sense of humor now Fourth World. There is some deep pathos there that’s not being relied on monster noodles and WWF pastiches to continue the story of explored.”

Mister Miracle and his extended family.

Mister Miracle was canceled for the third time in 1991, and it would The bwah-ha-ha era of Mister Miracle closes out with issue #28 not be the last. The bwah-ha-ha era ran its course, but the third volume (June 1991) in an issue that takes the characters back to their roots. of Mister Miracle will always remain a book that tried to balance humor There’s no villainous pasta to end things as Moench and Phillips present with high concepts and when it succeeded, it was truly miraculous.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 49

…TRY, TRY AGAIN

It’s fitting that Kevin Dooley had the last words in the farewell issue of 1991’s Mister Miracle #28, because as a writer, the former MM editor would be the creative force on the next attempt at Scott Free’s solo success. In 1996, Dooley was chosen as scribe of the latest Fourth World title while Steve Crespo provided the art in this Rob Simpson-edited title. Where the 1991 series focused on the human and humorous side of Kirby’s creations while forgoing the serious genre explorations of the same, Mister Miracle #1 (Apr. 1996) was an in-your-face, very mid-’90s take on the New Gods. Crespo provided gritty and violent-looking redesigns of Kirby favorites as Orion, Miracle, and the other Fourth World players were replete with shoulder spikes and mountains of muscles. The first issue opens with Scott Free ready to ascend to godhood and be named Highfather’s successor. Free is plagued by doubts and remorse that he was giving up his humanity to lead the battle against Darkseid, but the other gods are insistent that Free ascend the throne of New Genesis.

In the first issue, Free escapes to Earth, Barda is seemingly killed, and the 1996 version of the Justice League is possessed by the Source and goes after Scott Free to punish him for abandoning his cosmic destiny. The first issue of the series is a far cry from the previous volume of Mister Miracle, but still, through all the teeth-gnashing action, one misses the humanity and relatability of the JLI-era Scott Free.

There are very few laughs but plenty of action as Dooley and Crespo take readers on a tour of the Fourth World. In issue #2 (May 1996), Mister Miracle journeys to the Fourth World hell to save Barda, while issue #3 (June 1996) takes an even darker turn as it is revealed the New God known as Steppenwolf long ago murdered Scott Free’s mother. Dooley’s series is very plot-driven, but the characters flatten out significantly from the previous volume.

Maybe this constant aggression was a reaction to the overt humor of the previous series, but looking back at both series, it is clear that the JLI/Mister Miracle and the 1996 Mister Miracle could not be more different.

In addition to the dark reveal regarding Steppenwolf, issue #3 also sees Mister Miracle don a new spiked-armor costume (it was the ’90s, after all) as the visual language of Mister Miracle moves away from the sleek and classical Kirby designs. One appealing aspect of this volume of Mister Miracle is the utilization of many classic Fourth World characters. While DC used the Fourth World sparingly in the JLI era of Scott Free’s adventures, the 1996 volume served up Darkseid, Kalibak, Granny, Steppenwolf, Black Racer, Highfather, Orion, and Lightray in generous helpings. Dooley’s book was not afraid to explore the worlds and players that the King brought to life, making this book a loving, if at times overwrought, exploration of the New Gods.

Mister Miracle #5 (Aug. 1996) brings back an artist from the Fourth World of yesteryear as Marshall Rogers comes aboard as penciler. Rogers’ inclusion gives the issue a pleasant throwback feel as the Frees return to Earth and reunite with Oberon. In this issue, Dooley focuses on the marriage of the Frees and sadly, by the end of the issue, the couple that found love in the hell of Apokolips separate. Issue #6 (Sept. 1996) is a split story with the first tale featuring art by Mike Collins. In this tale, a solo Big Barda visits Wonder Woman’s home of Themyscira. Meanwhile, in a Rogers–drawn tale, Mister Miracle goes to work for Oberon’s new help clinic to protect a woman from her abusive wrestler husband (what’s with Mister Miracle and wrestlers?). Finally, this truncated volume of Mister Miracle ends with issue #7 (Oct. 1996). With Crespo back on board as artist, Dooley brings in Wally West Flash and Kyle Rayner Green Lantern as well as reuniting MM with his old bwah-ha-ha buddy Guy Gardner. This issue sees Scott Free battle an old foe from his time on Apokolips. After the action, MM gets a message that there is trouble on New Genesis. The last page promises that Scott Free’s adventures will continue in the pages of New Gods, but this was Mister Miracle’s final solo adventure of the ’90s. In the letters column, DC claimed that it was “minuscule industry support” that doomed the

Super-Star Artists (top) Mister Miracle #5 (Aug. 1996) reunited Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin as the cover (and interior) artists, while (bottom) #6 (Sept. 1996), the penultimate issue of the run, guest-starred Wonder Woman and featured this Walter Simonson cover. Original art courtesy of Heritage.

TM & © DC Comics.

50 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

One Last Bow (left) Shilo Norman reappeared as the World’s Greatest Escape Artist as part of writer Grant Morrison’s Seven Soldiers DC project.

Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle #1 (Nov. 2005) cover

by Pasqual Ferry. (right) Issue #1 (Oct. 2017) of the 12-issue Mister Miracle series, which launched in August 2017. Cover by Mitch Gerads.

TM & © DC Comics.

latest volume of Mister Miracle, but the end of another Mister Miracle title was not surprising because after surviving deathtraps, killer noodles, Parademons, and supervillains, cancellation had long been the one thing Scott Free could not escape.

The inclusion of Shilo Norman may have been taken place during the waning days of the JLI-era Mister Miracle run, but the experimental nature of the character would resonate over a decade later. Scott Free’s protégé got another shot at stardom as one of writer Grant Morrison’s Seven Soldiers of Victory in an ambitious 2005–2006 DC project bookended by two Seven Soldiers Specials and comprising a septet of miniseries featuring (the Spawn of) Frankenstein, the Guardian, Klarion the Witchboy, the Shining Knight, the Bulleteer, Zatanna, and Shilo as Mister Miracle. Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle #1–4 (Nov. 2005–May 2006) was written by Morrison and illustrated

by Pasqual Ferry, followed by Billy Dallas Patton and inker Mike Bair, then Freddie E. Williams III. The surrealistic resonance of Norman would be shunted over into Morrison’s grand experiment as the legend of Mister Miracle played a major role in the narrative of Morrison’s Seven Soldiers.

THE DEATHTRAP OF CANCELLATION

Mister Miracle is one of Jack Kirby’s greatest creations. Scott Free fills his multiple roles with panache… but the only role MM cannot seem to fill is the role of solo superstar. Many talented creators have tried to make Mister Miracle an indelible part of the DC pantheon and along the way have succeeded in building upon the foundation established by the King so long ago, including writer Tom King and artist Mitch Gerards, whose new Mister Miracle 12-issue maxi-series launched in August 2017 to great acclaim.

Steve Englehart has some thoughts on why Mister Miracle has never been able to escape cancellation. “Overall, I think the fact that he rarely has any struggles undercuts him. Same thing as Superman; if the guy can do anything, it’s not spectacular, it’s boring.”

Regarding Mister Miracle’s cancellations, Steve Rude postulates, “I can only ponder the goofy decisions made by higher-ups that run the publishing business that will go on to affect the world in decades to come. The cancellation of Kirby’s New Gods trilogy was one of the most short-sighted decisions ever made by a company.”

As J. M. DeMatteis puts it, “Kirby created an incredible universe populated with some of the most extraordinary characters in the history of our popular culture. What appeared to be a ‘failure’ in the early 1970s has turned out to be one of the greatest successes our industry has ever seen. There’s more talent and imagination and potential for more stories in one page of a Kirby Fourth World comic book than in five years of some other titles. No wonder we all keep returning to that world. It’s Kirby. It’s the Fourth World. It’s a Super Escape Artist. It’s the most kickass woman in comics. It’s goofy, it’s serious, it’s full of imagination and wonder. It’s Mister Miracle!”

We will let writer Mark Evanier, who has been part of Mister Miracle since the Kirby original, have the final word on why Scott Free has never escaped the deathtrap of cancellation. In a Comics Buyers’ Guide article originally published in June of 1997, Evanier wrote, “Kirby’s story was never fully realized, and never can be. Others have and will continue to do their takes on the material, their explorations of his themes—I did an especially unimpressive one I wish I could do over—but we’re all just playing with someone else’s character names and designs. Some attempts have been delightfully entertaining—wonderful, even—but they no more complete what Kirby did than a new Winnie the Pooh book is a part of the work of A. A. Milne.”

Maybe that is the answer—when compared to Jack Kirby, everyone else is playing a Fourth World cover song. But looking back on the works of greats like Evanier, Englehart, Rogers, Rude, DeMatteis, Wein, Phillips, Gibson, Moench, and Dooley, one finds that it is clear that some brilliant visionaries tried to play that tune and at times, the resulting melody was truly miraculous.

MARC BUXTON is a proud contributor to websites like Comic Book Resources and Den of Geek US. He is an English teacher, and Marc’s loving wife thinks he owns way too many comic books. Marc has been reading comics since the dawn of time and is still deeply in love with every era of the great medium.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 51

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KIRBY100

All characters TM & © their respective owners.

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Jack Kirby’s Forever People made their debut in the first issue of their ongoing series, cover-dated Feb.–Mar. 1971.

Five teenagers from New Genesis who journeyed to Earth to oppose the tyrannical machinations of Darkseid, the Forever People played a key role in Kirby’s ambitious Fourth World saga.

Unfortunately, as with the other series Kirby had created to chronicle his modern-day myth arc, The Forever People was abruptly canceled by DC Comics, bringing the saga of the young gods to a premature end. Issue #11 (Oct.–Nov. 1972) concluded with the Forever People stranded on the mysterious paradise world of Adonn, their ally the Infinity Man seemingly destroyed in combat with Darkseid’s agent Devilance the Pursuer.

BIG CHILL-ING KIRBY

by B

en Herman

Over the next several years DC would attempt to revive a number of the characters and concepts from the Fourth World with different creators. But the Forever People would remain in limbo, both figuratively and literally, for the next decade and a half. When the Forever People finally did return, it was in a six-issue miniseries (Feb.–July 1988) written by J. M. DeMatteis; penciled by Paris Cullins; inked by Karl Kesel (#1–2, 4–6), Bob Smith (#3), and Roy Richardson (inking assists on #4–6); and edited by Karen Berger.

In his text piece in the first issue of the miniseries, DeMatteis revealed he had been a fan of Kirby’s original Fourth World comics, especially The Forever People: “But to my sixteen-year-old eyes, the real magic was in The Forever People. They were cosmic hippies, super-powered flowerchildren: the embodiment of youth and naïveté and idealism and dreams.”

DeMatteis still feels just as passionj. m. dematteis ately about the Forever People today.

As he explains to BACK ISSUE, “Kirby’s Fourth World comics are among my favorite comic books of all time. Kirby at the absolute peak of his powers.

And, of all those books, The Forever People was closest to my heart. The energy, the idealism, of those characters always touched and inspired me.”

How did DeMatteis come to write the 1988 revival of Forever People? “If memory serves,” recalls DeMatteis, “I approached Karen [Berger]—a superb editor and an old, dear friend—with the idea (born out of my love of the characters). She liked my proposal, got it approved, and we were off!”

DeMatteis, speaking warmly of his working relationship with Berger, reveals that she allowed him a great deal of latitude: “Karen’s not the kind of editor who sits over a seasoned writer’s shoulder, questioning every decision.

So I was allowed to tell the story the way I wanted to, always knowing that Karen was there to catch me if I went off a cliff, offering her wisdom and advice whenever it was needed.”

The miniseries needed a penciler, and Berger reached out to an artist she had worked with recently. “My editor Karen Berger, who I dubbed ‘the burger,’ asked me if I

Forever More DC Comics house ad from late 1987, promoting the Forever People miniseries.

TM & © DC Comics.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 53

wanted to do it,” Paris Cullins tells BACK ISSUE. “I was working for her at the time doing the Blue Beetle series and she asked me if I was interested.” Cullins eagerly agreed, explaining, “The Forever People, the New Gods, Mister Miracle, and all [the] other Fourth World [characters were] created by Jack Kirby, my foremost influence, and the main reason I chose to work at DC Comics. This was the beginning of my dream come true.”

Karl Kesel, speaking to BACK ISSUE, recounts that he also jumped at the opportunity to work on the Forever People miniseries: “Karen Berger was its editor— she also happened to be my editor on Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes. So I heard about the project as it was being put together. And it sounded like a fun idea—the super-hippies grow up to be super-yuppies, just like many real hippies did in real life. I was also a huge fan of Paris Cullins’ work, and was dying to ink him. Also I loved Kirby’s Fourth World books, so there was that. I can’t remember if I actively campaigned

for the job, but I certainly didn’t have to think twice when Karen offered it to me!”

During the 15-year period the Forever People had been absent from print, the world had changed. The hippies, flower children of the late 1960s who had inspired the characters, grew up, eventually becoming clean-cut, middle-class suburbanites. Many of these one-time activists went from fighting against the establishment to embracing it, making up a significant part of the demographic that voted Ronald Reagan into the White House.

DeMatteis made these developments in American society a key theme of the Forever People revival.

“That was the point of the series,” says DeMatteis.

“Kirby portrayed the Forever People as the embodiment of the late ’60s/early ’70s countercultural youth movement.

What I wanted to do was a kind of superhero version of the movie The Big Chill. Check in on these young idealists years later, see how they’ve changed, how karl kesel they’ve grown, evolved. Did their ideals remain intact?

Were they tossed away as adult responsibilities set in? Questions the ’60s generation were facing, not always very well, and that I wanted to see the Forever People grapple with.”

The Big Chill is a 1983 comedy-drama directed by Lawrence Kasdan.

It tells the story of a group of baby boomers who are reunited for the first time in 15 years for the funeral of their former college classmate Alex, who has committed suicide. This event forces the old friends to confront the changes that had taken place in both themselves and the world over the past decade and a half.

DeMatteis’ evocation of The Big Chill in his writing of the Forever People miniseries was a definite inspiration for Cullins. “This project, once I read it, I had described it back then as The Big Chill for the kids of New Genesis,” Cullins recalls. “Understanding this made the visualization easy: a dreamier Kirby, and to draw the characters a bit older, even though they are supposed to be immortal.”

The themes of spirituality, enlightenment, and pacifism have often been present in DeMatteis’ works, and the Forever People miniseries gave him a wonderful opportunity to further explore these. “The underlying idea was that it’s very easy to chant ‘peace and love,’ but how do you actually live that?” queries DeMatteis. “Unless our ideals are tested in the fire of the real world, they remain nothing but slogans. The story was about the Forever People facing that fire.”

A NEW LIFE

As the first issue of the miniseries opens, a decade and a half has passed on Adonn. During this span of time, the Forever People, the peaceful, idealistic outsiders, have become the founders of a community, Forevertown.

Mark Moonrider, the former leader of the group, is the most changed.

Instead of a rebel, he is now the mayor of Forevertown. Mark has become a cross between the Forever People’s old adversary Glorious Godfrey and slick capitalist Gordon Gecko, in effect an evangelist yuppie. In a flashback, we learn that Mark had forced the world of Adonn to change, to conform to his vision of progress. The Forever People utilized their Mother Box to perform “techno-psychic surgery” that “evolves” the primitive native population of Adonn. This “surgery” was successful, but the cost of creating this new society was the destruction of Mother Box and the death of Vykin the Black, the only non-Caucasian member of the Forever People.

Big Bear and Beautiful Dreamer have married. Big Bear is the Forevertown librarian, more comfortable among his books than with other people, having grown cynical, distrusting Mark’s motives and actions. Dreamer is a schoolteacher, and is pregnant with her first child.

I Heard It Through the Grapevine… (top) Flower children protesting the Vietnam War inspired Kirby to create his idealist super-hippies. (bottom) The Big Chill explored how hippies had transformed into yuppies.

Photo by S. Sgt. Albert R. Simpson; US Department of Defense public domain.

The Big Chill © 1983 Columbia Pictures.

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Serifan, the youngest of the group, has become an embittered hold-out, living as a hermit in the forests of Adonn. He is disenchanted by the choices and compromises made by the others, and is stuck mourning the “good old days.” Whereas Mark has changed the reality that he does not like, Serifan avoids it completely by isolating himself. He spends his days losing himself in the otherworldly experiences of his Cosmic Cartridges.

A strange, twisted force calling itself “the Dark” arrives on Adonn, presenting itself to the solitary Serifan. The Dark feeds upon Serifan’s long-simmering resentments, empowering him to attack Forevertown.

What specifically did DeMatteis envision the Dark to represent? Were they an outside force that sought to tempt and corrupt humanity, to divert us from our potential for growth and spiritual advancement? Or were the Dark the embodiment of all the potential for evil within humanity? “As I recall (and it’s been a while, so I could be misremembering!), the Dark were manifestations of the negative elements in our collective unconscious, but they were also independent entities that were determined to, as you say, ‘tempt and corrupt’ humanity; to keep us from rising to our highest destiny; to pull us down into the pit,” explains DeMatteis of his story’s adversaries.

Empowered by Serifan’s anger and hate, the Dark are able to turn back the timesteam, undoing the events of the previous 15 years on Adonn. When the Forever People return to consciousness, they are once again teenagers.

They each remember the events of the past decade and a half, and are shocked that it has all been wiped from existence. Mark’s wife Mina is once again an innocent primitive who flees in fear from him, their three children no longer ever having existed. Dreamer is likewise horrified that the unborn child she has been carrying for the past eight months has been erased from reality.

The group’s despair is only slightly mitigated by the presence of Vykin, who is once again among the living.

The restored quintet witnesses the arrival of a mysterious, mystical woman named Maya, who confirms for them that time has been wound back. Consumed by the pain of his losses, Mark violently lashes out at his friends, until he is finally calmed down by Maya. She informs them that their time on Adonn is over, that any attempt to repeat their experiment to “evolve” the primitives would once again result in Vykin’s death. Piercing the barrier that surrounds Adonn, Maya at last transports the Forever People back to Earth, to New York City.

Whereas time on Adonn was rewound, on Earth it has proceeded uninterrupted, and the year is now 1988.

Mark, still furious at Serifan, punches him and storms off.

Dreamer, likewise reeling from the trauma of her vanished pregnancy, runs away, with Big Bear desperately chasing after her. Left alone with Vykin and Maya, Serifan reflects sadly on what has transpired, on how the newly reunited Forever People have so quickly become divided: “My friends. All I wanted was to have us all together again… the way it used t’be. Didn’t exactly work out, did it?”

Mark soon settles down in a seedy bar, attempting to blot out his grief with alcohol. He is approached by Fyre, a beautiful and cruel human servant of the Dark who seduces him. Mark’s grief at the loss of his family and his anger towards Serifan enables the Dark to ensnare and corrupt him, to convince him of the futility of hope and ideals.

The Dark also attempt to lure in Dreamer, tempting her with a vision of her lost child. Before she can be fully taken in by their deception, Big Bear arrives at her side, disrupting the illusion. The two at last reaffirm their love for one another. But Mark, now empowered by the Dark, attacks the reunited couple, ranting that what they think they have isn’t real:

“When I found Mina, I thought I’d discovered true love at long last. A love that transcended every concept of love I’d ever had. But that was a lie, too! All love’s a lie, you fat fool! All love is doomed!”

Big Bear in unfazed by Mark’s words, responding, “Anything that matters… anything that’s precious… is going to bring you pain! We’re not kids anymore, Mark! It’s no surprise to me that we have to struggle through life! That we have to suffer… and fall… then drag ourselves up again! But the beauty of life is in the struggle! And it’s our suffering that makes us strong! That tests our love… that proves it! That assures its triumph!”

Via Big Bear’s speech, DeMatteis articulates how not only Serifan but also Mark went down an incorrect path on Adonn. Yes, ideals are important, but it is just as vital to strive to find a way to apply them to reality. Serifan turned his back on reality, and Mark turned his back on his ideals, making them both vulnerable to the Dark.

An important part of growing up is recognizing that if you do hold on to your ideals, they will be tested over and over again. Additionally, it means acknowledging the importance of balance, retaining the idealism of

Vanishing Point Serifan encounters the Dark. Original art to page 13 of FP #1, from the archives of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com).

Art by Paris Cullins and Karl Kesel.

TM & © DC Comics.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 55

youth while also utilizing the maturity of experience as you work towards achieving your goals.

Big Bear’s words unfortunately fall on deaf ears, and Mark is joined by the human servants of the Dark. Overwhelmed by these forces, the Forever People are imprisoned in the Dark’s grim fortress. The Dark dangle the possibility of hope and freedom in front of Big Bear, Dreamer, Vykin, and Serifan, then cruelly snatch it away. Mark believes this will finally convince his former friends of their futility. Instead, their unwillingness to give up, no matter how hopeless it seems, at last reawakens his own idealism. Turning his back on Fyre and her Dark masters, he rejoins the Forever People. For the first time in 15 years the five friends are able to summon the Infinity Man, who defeats Fyre and her associates. The Dark, unable to act without their human agents, quickly flee.

While the Forever People are embroiled in their struggle with the Dark, a man named Donald Bergman, an author, is also being tempted by them. The Dark take on the form of a decrepit, dirty old man named Knight. Whispering in Donald’s ear, Knight feeds the young writer’s depression, steering him towards writing a novel that glorifies hopelessness and despair. The Forever People, at last having won their own battle against the Dark, are transported by Maya to Donald’s side. It is revealed that Donald is none other than Donnie, the young boy who they befriended years ago when they first visited Earth.

The now-adult Donnie represents the loss of innocence and idealism that America’s youth endured in the 1970s and ’80s. The Dark recognized Donnie’s talents, and they sought to twist those abilities, to steer him away from working towards spiritual growth, instead serving to promote their message of anger and selfishness.

The Forever People’s arrival restores not just Donnie’s childhood memories, but the hope and kindness he knew when he was young.

Like the Forever People before him, Donnie’s faith is renewed. He once again recognizes that he must resist the temptation to succumb to despair, and instead fight for what is good and decent.

WHAT ON EARTH?

All Grown Up Covers for all six issues of the 1988 Forever People miniseries. Art by Cullins and Kesel.

TM & © DC Comics.

Their mission to help Donnie completed, Maya transports the Forever People to the countryside. She reveals to the five that they are not actually gods from New Genesis; rather, they were originally human, “five children of Earth whose lives would have been brief and painful.”

Plucked from different historical eras by Highfather, the spiritual leader of the New Gods, they were raised on New Genesis. They were drawn back to Earth during the war between New Genesis and Apokolips, never realizing they had returned home. Maya tells the five that Highfather always intended for the Forever People to safeguard Earth from the Dark, to prevent that corrosive force from diverting humanity away from the path to enlightenment.

DeMatteis explains his reasoning for revealing this origin: “The Forever People always seemed like outsiders, even on New Genesis, as if they were a breed apart. And the fact that they were having their adventures on Earth, and seemed to enjoy it so much, sparked the idea that maybe they were so at home here because it actually was their home, the place of their birth. I built their new mythology around that idea.”

At last, Maya finally reveals her own true identity: She is their long-missing Mother Box. Expending the last of her power to protect them from a bitter, vengeful Fyre, Maya vanishes, her dissipating trail of energy passing into Dreamer. Several days later, the reinvigorated Forever People are ready to set out on their mission to safeguard humanity from the Dark. Dreamer announces to the others that she is once again pregnant, the implication being that we have not seen the last of Maya after all.

Readers soon had an opportunity to catch up with the Forever People when DeMatteis teamed up with artist Ian Gibson for a new ongoing Mister Miracle series, as discussed in the previous article. In issues #3–5 (Mar.–June 1989), Highfather, a.k.a. Izaya, the father of Mister Miracle, makes an unannounced visit to Scott Free and Big Barda’s suburban home in Bailey, New Hampshire, and then invites Scott’s “cousins” the Forever People over for dinner. Scott and Barda are surprised to discover that Beautiful Dreamer is nearly ready to give birth, especially after she reveals that she had only been pregnant for six weeks. “It’s a very unusual

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child,” she admits. Later, speaking confidentially to Barda, Dreamer tells her, “You see… I had a… a miscarriage a little while back… and, well, the conception of this child… it was something of a miracle.” Moments later, Dreamer goes into labor.

The Dark and their human minions utilize the occasion to attack, capturing first Mister Miracle, then Mark Moonrider, Vykin, and Serifan. Fyre and her compatriots hold the four New Gods hostage in order to lure Highfather to them, hoping to gain revenge against the leader of New Genesis. Highfather informs Dreamer that “the love and strength” she needs to make it through childbirth are already within her, and urges Big Bear to show strength as well and stay by his wife’s side. Izaya then heads off to rescue his son and the other Forever People.

The Dark prove themselves to be fair-weather friends, coldly informing Fyre that if she wishes to once again prove worthy of serving them then she must do so without their aid. Abandoned by their twisted benefactors, Fyre and her fellow servants are soon defeated by Mister Miracle. Fyre once again escapes, but Highfather uses his Wonder Staff to erase the memories of the other servants, returning them to the lives they had before they were seduced by the Dark, hoping that they will make the most of this second chance.

The threat of the Dark once again averted, these New Gods quickly rush back to Beautiful Dreamer’s side.

She has given birth to her daughter, a talking, flying, magical baby who, of course, has been named Maya.

In regard to his use of the Forever People in Mister Miracle, DeMatteis states, “It was both a chance to tie up loose ends and another opportunity to write characters I love.”

DRAWING THE MINISERIES

Paris Cullins did impressive work penciling the Forever People miniseries. However, as he reveals to BACK ISSUE, he did not actually have an opportunity to converse with DeMatteis regarding the artwork. “My collaboration [with DeMatteis] was very little to none,” Cullins states. “Most of [the miniseries] script was written out before I got there. There was no problem because I loved everything I read. I once met [DeMatteis] in the offices of DC and I thought he was a great guy with lots of great ideas. We spoke in Alan Gold’s office, next door to Len Wein’s, years before I was given the [Forever People] assignment and, funny enough, the next time I spoke to him was almost a year after the miniseries.

The assignment was so successful I now was getting an influx of offers from [both the] United States and abroad to work on other comic series and special projects at DC Comics.”

Cullins describes how he worked out the layouts and storytelling that he utilized in the miniseries: “They were not plots but full scripts and though [DeMatteis] was very descriptive in his scenes, they were wrapped around the emotion injected in the characters, not so much the imagery, because Kirby had already created a full matrix of what that universe was like. [DeMatteis] inspired me greatly in the characters’ personal evolution, keeping the characters grounded, yet [with] room for expansion. I was never told to draw anything in any specific way. If I were to describe the style I approached, it would be ‘Kirby meets Pérez.’ I did my best to bring the best of Kirby as the guide, but DeMatteis’ emotional description of the storyboards of the sequentials were more idiosyncratic then Kirby’s iconic. Thus the particular broken-sliver panels more recognized as George Pérez were ideal but in character with his script. So it was a bit more like manga.

Donnie Darko (left) From Jack Kirby’s Forever People #3 (June–July 1971), the team’s pal Donnie runs into trouble. (right) From the Forever People #6 (July 1988), the team’s former pal Donnie (“Donny” in the miniseries) runs into trouble.

TM & © DC Comics.

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look and feel like one story. It was meant to be one book, a set of chapters, and not a miniseries, more like acts of a play than issues. It felt right. I loved working on it. Ultimately I thought it was a great job.”

Kesel has nothing but praise for Cullins. “I love Paris’ work! So full of life and energy! He always had cool insights and ideas constantly popping out of his head—like the time he told me he thought the reason Kirby never drew Metron’s chair the exact same way twice was because the chair was alive—some sort of living machinery—and was constantly moving and changing, improving itself. His enthusiasm for a project was infectious. And inking him was a joy.”

Likewise, Cullins was exceedingly happy with Kesel’s contributions.

“I think Karl Kesel’s inks were perfect, setting a tone so [like] Sinnott or Royer. I couldn’t ask for better or [have] done it [better] myself.”

To this day, Cullins remains enthused by Kirby’s characters. “On a side note, there was an animated show on Cartoon Network called Young Justice that in the first season, the 17th episode [“Disordered,” broadcast November 11, 2011 (left)] featured the Forever People, Infinity Man, and, of course, the Super-Cycle. Man, o’ man, was that great. I’m still such a fan.”

DeMatteis was very pleased with the artwork by Paris Cullins and Karl Kesel on the miniseries. “Paris, as I recall, was a huge Kirby fan and you could see it in his work,” he says. “Lots of energy and enthusiasm, really solid storytelling. He did a wonderful job bringing the story to life. And Kesel’s inking was equally superb.”

Kesel, offering his appraisal of DeMatteis’ writing for the miniseries, is also positive, albeit with a couple of provisos. “I’ve always loved the Forever People, and think J. M. did fine by them in the story,” Kesel states. “I can’t honestly say I remember many specifics about the story, but I remember enjoying it. (Except—was this the story where they revealed the Forever People were kids plucked from across time? If so, I always thought that was over-thinking things. The appeal of the Forever People is that they are the eternal avatars of youth—if you try to explain it beyond that I think you begin to lose the concept’s inherent charm. In my opinion.)

“Probably my only real complaint would be the ‘new costumes’ given to the team—almost literally on the last page of the series, as I recall, and in a fairly small panel. It seemed like such an afterthought, and totally unnecessary. I don’t believe they ever appeared anywhere else again, did they? Which really tells you everything right there.”

While the “new costumes” to which Kesel refers were later used when the Forever People guest-starred in Mister Miracle, in subsequent appearances the characters did indeed return to their original Kirby designs.

“I was given full control and experimented a lot,” Cullins reveals.

“One of my favorite scenes was when Mark Moonrider danced with Beautiful Dreamer, though in reality it was the Dark. I took great care to draw in what I thought was a truly great pantomime and dance sequence.”

The scene to which Cullins refers takes place in issue #3, as the Dark tempt Dreamer, first with the image of her lost daughter, and then with Mark’s form. It is indeed a superbly rendered sequence.

“Another [favorite scene] was the fight between Mark Moonrider and Big Bear,” Cullins adds. “I thought the fight sequence came off really well.”

Cullins was gratified by the response that his work received. As he explains, “Each issue I received phone calls from my fans, and peers as well.

One phone call in particular that stands out was from Art Nichols, who was the proxy for Neal Adams. ‘Great work,’ they both said.”

Part of Cullins’ art on the miniseries involved updating the looks of the five main characters, as well as conceiving the designs for both Maya and the Dark. “Karen Berger left it up to me,” says Cullins. “I got the sense that you weren’t to think of [the characters as] far removed from the older Forever People, mainly because in the story they were stuck in place and that was the point. So the changes were so minor that they aren’t worth mentioning, even Vykin the Black who I gave dreads to; the character was killed in the story and so I just did a slight interpretation of what Kirby had in Thirty years later, looking back at his writing on the mind about the character except they were a little older. I had a lot of fun revisiting that, being the Fourth Forever People miniseries, DeMatteis offers a modest World fan that I am. Drawing the Infinity Man was a appraisal: “There’s one element that’s always missing for blast, [as was] creating imagery for the Dark.” those of us revisiting these classic Kirby characters, and There is one area where Cullins feels he may have that’s Jack Kirby. The Fourth World came from the depths fallen short, specifically, his conception of Maya. “Makof Kirby’s mind and heart, they were deeply personal, ing the Mother Box an incarnate being I was not so and so nothing we do can really reach the heights that happy with,” he admits. “Though they gave me time Jack did. That said, I think Forever People was a fun and to develop, I could have used a little more time or interesting miniseries that treated the characters with influence with my limited experience or taste in fashrespect and, I hope, added to their mythology in a way that was consistent with what Jack did.” ion. I could have done it better trying to create ‘East karen berger Indian meets Victorian’ but I think it came out a DeMatteis regards the messages and themes of the bit wonky, but I loved everything else. If I had Forever People miniseries to be just as relevant today as they were when it was published 30 years ago: “In the current political [designed Maya] now I would have put her in a Sari.” atmosphere, with hundreds of thousands protesting in the streets, LOOKING BACK we are, in some ways, echoing the changes All of the creators on the Forever People miniseries look back on the of the ’60s. Adhering to our highest ideals— without giving in to rage and despair, violence project with genuine fondness.

Asked about her editing of the miniseries, Karen Berger recalls that and hate—is more important than ever.” it was a pleasant experience working with J. M. DeMatteis and Paris Cullins. “Marc and Paris are two extremely talented people, and good A very grateful “thank you” to J. M. DeMatteis, Paris friends of mine,” Berger states. “I remember having a great time on Cullins, Karl Kesel, and Karen Berger for sharing their this series, and how important it was for both of them to celebrate and memories and their thoughts for this article. be true to Jack Kirby’s spirit on one of his many incredible creations.” BEN HERMAN lives in Queens, NYC. He has previously How does Cullins feel about his work on Forever People? “I took the been published in Alter Ego. He has been a fan of job seriously, struggled with a few things including deadlines, and Jack Kirby’s New Gods since he first saw Darkseid and worked out a few personal issues,” says the artist. “Most importantly, his minions from Apokolips appear on the Super [the] conceptual, visual cohesion of the miniseries, meaning it was to Friends cartoon series in 1984.

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MARK BODÉ

Beautiful Dreamer TM & © DC Comics.

SHAWN ATKINSON

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 59

DAN DeCARLO

KIM DeMULDER

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STEPHEN DeSTEFANO

Beautiful Dreamer TM & © DC Comics. Dexter’s Laboratory © Cartoon Network.

PARIS CULLINS

JUNE BRIGMAN

SIMON FRASER

GILBERT HERNANDEZ

JAIME HERNANDEZ Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 61

Beautiful Dreamer TM & © DC Comics.

RAMONA FRADON

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Beautiful Dreamer TM & © DC Comics.

RICHARD HOWELL

MICHAEL AVON OEMING

PAUL RYAN

BILLY TUCCI Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 63

Beautiful Dreamer TM & © DC Comics.

RUDY NEBRES

by D a n

Johnson

A Super Threat Big, bad Darkseid, as seen in Superman: The Animated Series.

TM & © DC Comics/ Warner Bros. Television.

When Jack Kirby came to DC Comics in 1970, he brought the blueprint for a saga that reshaped the landscape of Marvel’s Distinguished Competition and elevated it onto a cosmic level. The Fourth World was a sweeping masterpiece of intertwined series that brought a new mythology to the already-rich DC Universe and added to it in a way that was underappreciated at the time. Originally deemed a commercial failure, the characters that Kirby created, such as Mister Miracle, Kalibak, Orion, Desaad, Granny Goodness, Highfather, and the figure at the heart of it all, Darkseid, were eventually given their rightful place in the DC pantheon.

As DC began to aggressively branch out into other mediums, especially animated shows and movies, Kirby’s creations were obvious choices for adaptation. This article explores their history in animated form, going back to where it all began on ABC in the Fall of 1984…

SUPER FRIENDS: THE LEGENDARY SUPER POWERS SHOW AND THE SUPER POWERS TEAM: GALACTIC GUARDIANS (1984–1986)

Super Friends had been a staple on Saturday mornings for over ten years when Kirby’s characters were added to the mix. The addition of Darkseid, Kalibak (both voiced by voice actor legend Frank Welker), and Desaad (voiced by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Rene Auberjonois) helped to breathe new life into the series and helped create some of the strongest episodes in the show’s final two seasons. Darkseid, along with the recently revamped versions of Lex Luthor and Brainiac, brought a real sense of danger to the previously “safe” world of Super Friends.

Also, since the show was now tied in with the recently released Super Powers line of toys from Kenner, there was a push to have the program

mirror the actual comics, especially in the final season when the original Alex Toth designs for the main characters were discarded for all new ones based on the work of José Luis García-López.

The Legendary Super Powers Show was made up of two stories per episode. Many of these were short mini-episodes, but Darkseid and company took centerstage for this season’s only two-parters, “The Bride of Darkseid,” which saw the lord and master of Apokolips trying to claim Wonder Woman as his own, and “Darkseid’s Golden Trap,” where Darkseid comes in possession of the most valuable item on the criminal black market: gold kryptonite, the one substance that can rob Superman of his powers. Other appearances in mini-episodes during this season saw Darkseid teaming up with Brainiac in “The Wrath of Brainiac” and Luthor in “No Honor Among Thieves.” He would return in one final episode before the season finale, “The Royal Ruse.”

Galactic Guardians saw Darkseid used only four times, first in one of the mini-episodes, “The Ghost Ship”; in a pair of two-parters, “The Darkseid Deception,” where he tries to trick Wonder Woman into thinking he is Steve Trevor, and “Escape from Space City,” where he takes over an orbiting Earth colony, Star City; and the final episode produced, “The Death of Superman,” where he strikes against the Super Friends after the apparent death of the Man of Steel.

Even with the action amped up, these versions of the Fourth World characters were toned down considerably from what readers were used to in the comic books. Still, even with these alterations, getting Darkseid on screen was an especially bumpy road for the show’s producers.

“The Broadcast Standards group thought he looked too scary, even in an animated model, which tends to soften features,” says Alan Burnett,

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The Odd Couple Production cel from “The Bride of Darkseid,” from The Legendary Super Powers Show.

Courtesy of Heritage (www.ha.com).

TM & © DC Comics.

a writer and producer who began working in the DC Animated Universe with Super Friends. “They also thought, and I kid you not, that the spelling of his name would offend ABC’s German viewers. The first issue we dealt with.

The second, we stood our ground, and I was told that the decision on the name went all the way to the president of ABC. Darkseid prevailed.”

Even though the inclusion of the Lord of Apokolips did help the creativity of the show, the Kirby connection on Super Friends never made it past the inclusion of Darkseid, Kalibak, and Desaad, even though the Super Powers toy line went on to feature many the Fourth World characters, starting in its second lineup.

The line produced figures for Darkseid, Desaad, and Kalibak, along with Mantis, a Parademon, Steppenwolf, Mister Miracle, and Orion. Figures from the alan burnett Fourth World that were proposed, but never produced, include Lightray, © DC Comics.

Metron, and Black Racer. “I don’t remember us trying to push characters that the toy line had,” recalls Burnett.

“My guess is that Kenner added characters on their own.”

Despite the new life and creativity that was flowing into Super Friends, the show came to an end in 1986.

“ABC had a five-year deal on Super Friends,” explains Burnett. “I came in on the last two years of that deal.

We tried to pump it up, but ABC was pretty much done with it by the end.” Even though the historic series came to conclusion, it did so at the top of its game, breaking new ground in children’s television. Indeed, one of the best Super Friends episodes ever produced came out of this final season, “The Fear,” which featured the first onscreen telling of Batman’s origin in any medium.

“We were happy in the last year to do half-hour stories and have the show placed later in the schedule when older kids were watching,” says Burnett. As it was, That is why it was Superman who brought the next chapter this more mature approach to storytelling would be of the Fourth World to television. “Superman is such a powerful character, we’ve always had a problem finding explored further in the decade that was to follow.

As for the Fourth World, the wheels had been set into powerful villains to throw up against him,” said Bruce Timm motion and Kirby’s creations were being discovered by in the DVD extra, Superman Behind the Cape. “Jack Kirby’s a whole new fanbase thanks to Super Friends and the Darkseid is one of the major heavy hitters of the DC Super Powers toy line, but their next great venture into Universe. Also, when the Fourth World was first introduced animation would be almost a decade away… into the comics, one of the first books was Jimmy Olsen, so there was a Superman connection there already.”

Before Darkseid or any other citizen of Apokolips or SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (1996–2000) New Genesis appeared on Superman: The Animated Series, Several years after Super Friends went off the air, and after Timm and his crew introduced a character that had first one season of a CBS-produced Superman series in 1987, appeared in what is often considered the forgotten book the DC superheroes returned to the small screen in a most of the Fourth World Saga: the previously mentioned triumphant manner with the highly successful Batman: Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen. Bruno “Ugly” Manheim The Animated Series [see BACK ISSUE #99 for an in-depth (voiced by Bruce Weitz) was introduced in the episode look at this show and the comics it inspired—ed.]. It was “Fun and Games,” where he was targeted by the Toyman. the previously mentioned episode produced in the final The gangster with ties to Intergang was already into some season of Super Friends, “The Fear,” that showed television shady dealings and his ambitions caught the eye of one executives at Fox that kids were ready for a more realistic of Darkseid’s minions, Kanto (voiced by Michael York), take on superheroes. After the success of this series, it was who offered the crimeboss advanced technology that natural that Superman would follow on the fledgling WB was out of this world—literally—in the episode “Tools of network and the Man of Steel, one of the most exciting the Trade.” It was this episode that viewers got their first characters in science-fiction history, needed adversaries look at the menace that was to define the Man of Steel and allies that would be just as out of this world as he was. in this series, albeit in the last few seconds of the episode.

Supervillain Team-Up Screen capture from the Galactic Guardians episode “The Wild Cards,” with Darkseid and the Ace (of the Royal Flush Gang) working together.

TM & © DC Comics.

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As it was, Superman wouldn’t meet Darkseid until several episodes later, tone for the rest of the series and events into motion that would resonate but this initial glimpse helped build up the excitement for the fans for years to come within the Timmverse. In this episode, Darkseid has his sights set on Earth and not even a timely arrival by Orion (voiced watching the series and for the ones creating it.

“Tools of the Trade” also introduced another Fourth World character, by Steve Sandor) may be enough to save the world. Darkseid ends up Lt. Dan Turpin (voiced by Joseph Bologna). Initially distrustful of killing Bruno Manheim and then ruthlessly defeats Superman and leads Superman’s involvement with official police business, Turpin would go him as a captive through the streets of Metropolis. Just when it looks on to become a trusted friend and essential supporting player in this like all is lost, Dan Turpin steps up to lead the people in a final battle, series. More than that, the character was remodeled to resemble Jack if need be, against the superior, alien forces that confront them.

Only the timely arrival of Orion, leading the army of New Genesis and Kirby as a tribute to the King.

When it came time to cast voice actors for Superman: The Animated declaring Earth is now under that planet’s protection, forces Darkseid Series, the producers treated each episode like a classic radio show and to retreat, but not before he extracts a small amount of revenge and they pulled out all the stops in casting some of the finest talent in the murderers Dan Turpin right in front of Superman because the police business to bring Darkseid and company to life. Playing the Lord and officer had dared to defy him.

“I was only a storyboard artist at the time so I wouldn’t have been Master of Apokolips was Michael Ironside. Kalibak was Star Trek: The Next Generation’s own Lt. Worf, Michael Dorn. In one of the oddest privy to all the thinking behind using the New Gods,” recalls Tucker. choices was The Mary Tyler Moore Show’s own Lou Grant, Ed Asner, “But I recall the plan was to do ‘Apokolips… Now! Parts I and II’ and as Granny Goodness. “I don’t know how we hit on Ed Asner for Granny then use it to give the series more gravitas going into another season.

Goodness, except that Bruce Timm was hot on the idea,” recalls Working on the series was a great experience, but some on the crew Burnett. “My recollection is that we had Mr. Asner do an aufelt we weren’t pushing the bar on Superman that much from the ’70s movie or old TV series. The series still felt too safe.” dition while he was voicing another show to see how it sounded. Anyway, his female voice fit [Granny Goodness] “Apokolips… Now!” showcased various Kirby characters well. I think he had a great time doing it.” in the final battle for Metropolis, when the forces of When Darkseid and company were introduced New Genesis come after Darkseid and his army, even properly, that was when Superman: The Animated Series though none had speaking parts. Still, in this scene, really began to hit its stride. “My first time storyboarding you can see Big Barda, Mister Miracle, Lightray, Metron, the New Gods characters in Superman: The Animated Black Racer, and Forager. As a final, perfect touch, Series was in the episode, ‘Father’s Day,’ which was the “Apokolips… Now! Part II” was dedicated to Jack Kirby, first episode to [really] showcase any of the New Gods who had died just a few years before. characters up to that point,” says James Tucker, who has Beginning with “Apokolips… Now,” the Fourth World since gone on to write and produce several of DC’s characters were saved exclusively for two-part episodes. animated shows. “I had to board a huge battle between “The stories didn’t get necessarily more darker, james tucker but deeper,” recalled Timm on the documentary.

Superman and Kalibak in the final act. It was a scary assignment because up until that point on the show, “Especially after ‘Apokolips… Now!’ What Superman Superman had rarely fought someone nearly as strong © DC Comics. goes through [in those episodes, witnessing the death as he was, so it had to be epic and I was still a newbie to storyboarding. of Lt. Dan Turpin], from that point on, Darkseid is way, way up at the However, the biggest thrill was being able to storyboard Darkseid making top of Superman’s hate list. From that point on, every time Superman his first appearance in the series! That was quite a thrill and an honor. ran across Darkseid or his minions, he instantly gets grouchy. It’s a bad I remember those of us who were comic-book fans on the crew were day for Superman when Darkseid and the gang show up.”

The next two-parter to feature Darkseid and company was “Little really happy to finally bring in some Kirby influences into the stories.”

After “Father’s Day” came “Apokolips… Now!” This two-part episode Girl Lost,” which featured the debut of Supergirl. The Girl of Steel was a game changer for the show, a turning point that would set the proves instrumental in helping Superman stop a scheme by Granny

The Fourth World by Way of Metropolis From Superman: The Animated Series: (top left) Darkseid, Desaad, and Ugly Manheim from “Father’s Day”; (bottom) a whole lotta New Gods, from “Apokolips…

Now!”; (top right) Kal-El behaving badly in “Legacy.”

TM & © DC Comics/ Warner Bros. Television.

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Goodness to build a device using technology stolen by the runaway teens of Metropolis on behalf of Darkseid that will draw a comet towards Earth. As Darkseid tells Superman, if he cannot have Earth, he will destroy it. This episode also introduced Granny Goodness’ Female Furies, Lashina (voiced by Diane Michelle), Mad Harriet (voiced by SCTV’s Andrea Martin), and Stompa (voiced by Diane Delano).

Superman: The Animated Series ended its run with one of the most controversial episodes ever created for a series finale. The two-parter “Legacy” saw Superman captured and brainwashed by Darkseid and tricked into leading an attack on Earth. The Man of Steel eventually breaks his conditioning and goes to Apokolips to do battle with Darkseid, even defeating the despot, only to see him gently cared for and tended to by the people he had enslaved. Back on Earth, Superman’s reputation is in shambles, with even once-close friends, like Dr. Emil Hamilton, now fearing him.

Even though the show ended on a relatively down note, it was still one of quality. Indeed, the writing for the stories featuring Darkseid for the Superman series remain highwater marks for animated television.

“The script for ‘Apokolips… Now’ and ‘Legacy’ came as total surprises to most of the crew that would care about such things,” says Tucker. ”They were definitely arcs that motivated the crew to try their best given the Kirby influences in the episodes. We all revered Kirby.”

As it turns out, “Legacy” was not intended to be the show’s final episode. It was meant to set up what would have been the show’s final season. “Superman is such a beloved guy that we thought we’d spend the final season having people wary of him,” says Burnett. “We wanted to shift tones. Unfortunately, there was no last season. The network ended the run early and wanted us to work on a younger Batman show, which turned out to be Batman Beyond.”

The next series in the Timmverse didn’t have a huge influence from Kirby, but the show, in its final hour, would see some Fourth World connections and it would point the way to the show that took the Fourth World to new animated heights…

BATMAN BEYOND (1999–2001)

Batman Beyond, a series that followed the adventures of an elderly Bruce Wayne and his young protégé, Terry McGinnis, was set in the not-too-distant future of the Timmverse. In the show, Terry fought his own rogues’ gallery of bad guys, but came together with a Justice League of the future to fight the team’s original foe, Starro, in the show’s two-part finale, “The Call.”

The Fourth World connection here is brief, but important as that League’s heaviest hitter, next to Superman, is Big Barda (voiced by Farrah Forke). The original intention was to have Wonder Woman as a League member, but the producers were unable to use her at the time, so Barda stepped in as a substitute. Besides having Big Barda as a member of the Justice League, another important piece of Fourth World mythology was featured in this episode: Boom Tubes as the favored mode of transportation for the League.

“The Call” would point the way for Timm and his crew regarding the next series they would tackle. Again, the Fourth World connections would be more profound the next time around and it would be guided heavily by the events that unfolded in Superman: The Animated Series…

JUSTICE LEAGUE AND JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED (2001–2005)

In 2001, Justice League premiered on Cartoon Network, becoming the first DC animated show created exclusively for the cable channel. The series built on the Batman and Superman team that had been explored in their previous shows and added Wonder Woman, the Flash, the John Stewart Green Lantern, the Martian Manhunter, and Hawkgirl to the mix.

The first episode, “Secret Origins,” saw Superman still dealing with the fallout from “Legacy” and a population that still doesn’t quite trust him. This plot point was featured in the pilot episode, but it was decided to not pursue it further during the first season by the producers who were looking to make Justice League its own show. As it turns out, they soon determined this to be an error on their part. “Truth be told, initially Justice League was conceived as being in its own continuity, apart from the earlier shows,” says Tucker. “That didn’t last very long, but it came about because we wanted to avoid weighing the new series down with episodes that referred too much to older Superman or Batman storylines. This forced us to focus on building up the newer

King of Cartoons (top) Kirby surrogate Lt. Dan Turpin, from the memorable STAS episode “Apokolips… Now!” (middle) Parademons pop out of a Boom Tube on STAS. (bottom) Big Barda, as seen on Batman Beyond.

TM & © DC Comics/Warner Bros. Television.

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characters like Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and Martian Manhunter.”

While the attempt to spotlight the newer characters helped the show find its footing, avoiding past storylines and conflicts made for missed opportunities elsewhere.

“This attempt resulted in what we felt were a mixed bag of episodes that often didn’t meet our high standards,” continues Tucker. “By avoiding the storylines that were set up for ten years prior, we felt we had gotten off course. By Season Two, we needed to come out the gate strongly, so going back to the New Gods and Darkseid was a no-brainer. It made sense to pick up those threads left dangling in Superman: The Animated Series, which lead to the first two-parter teaming Brainiac and Darkseid [‘Twilight’].”

The Season Two opener saw Superman and the League forced to help save Apokolips from Brainiac, who has come to collect the planet’s raw data and then destroy it. At first, Superman is all for letting the planet burn until he is goaded into action

by Batman. Too late—the Man of Steel learns Darkseid has already struck a deal with the living computer, and the call for help is a ploy to trap their mutual enemy.

As Superman, Hawkgirl, and Martian Manhunter take on this deadly duo, Batman and Wonder Woman travel to New Genesis and meet several of the citizens there including Highfather (voiced by Mitchell Ryan) and Orion (now voiced by Ron Perlman), along with Lightray (voiced by Rob Paulsen) and Forager (voiced by Corey Burton). The story ends with a rematch between Superman and Darkseid that ends with the apparent death of Darkseid. This, viewers would later learn in Justice League Unlimited, would lead to civil war between the forces of Granny Goodness and Virmin Vundabarr and a struggle for power in the absence of Darkseid.

Fourth World Unlimited From Justice League Unlimited: (above) Darkseid, and (below) Mister Miracle and Big Barda, from the episode “The Ties That Bind.”

TM & © DC Comics/Warner Bros. Television.

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Other Fourth World connections in the second season of the show were relatively minor. In the episode “The Secret Society,” a group of villains under the leadership of Gorilla Grodd frees Clayface from Morgan Edge (voiced

by Brian George), who, in the pages of Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen, had been the original leader of Intergang.

Here he plays a minor role as a collector of oddities who is quickly dispatched by Killer Frost.

Kalibak would join forces with four other villains— Metallo, Toyman, Livewire, and Weather Wizard—to get revenge on Superman in the second-season episode “Hereafter,” which saw the “death” of Superman. Before the Last Son of Krypton’s return, Kalibak would face a beatdown from the Main Man, Lobo, who was seeking to take Superman’s place in the League.

The conflict brewing on Apokolips was explored further in Justice League Unlimited. In the episode, “The Ties That Bind,” Mister Miracle (voiced by the live-action Mister Fantastic, Ioan Guffudd), Big Barda, and the Flash must save Kalibak, who has been captured by Vundabarr, and in the process save Oberon, who is being held hostage

by Granny Goodness, who wants Kalibak for herself.

The episode gave the viewers their best look yet at the Fourth World setting, and it came from the man Kirby took inspiration from for Scott Free, the great Jim Steranko. “I believe Steranko pitched an idea about Mister Miracle, but I don’t remember the details,” says Tucker. “I kind of think the resulting episode had very little to do with what was pitched, but I could be wrong.

We were pitched stories often but it usually came down to Bruce, Dwayne McDuffie, either Stan Berkowitz or Matt Wayne, and myself sitting in a room hammering out the fine points of the plot then sending it to a writer pretty much figured out. We did almost all our Justice League Unlimited shows that way. I love ‘Ties That Bind,’ by the way. Virmin Vundabarr was hilariously brought to life by Arte Johnson in that one.”

Throughout the first season of Justice League Unlimited, Kirby’s shadowy think tank, Project Cadmus, which premiered in the pages of Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen, also played a central role in the series, although there were some alterations from the concept Kirby presented in the comics. “It’s quite a bit different,” said Bruce Timm in the DVD documentary Cadmus Exposed. “The Cadmus thing in the comics wasn’t quite as political. It was more like a mad scientist think tank. We connected to this whole big, shadowy, government-conspiracy thing.

When we plotted the very first episode in that arc, which was ‘Fearful Symmetry,’ we realized we had done a lot of different shadowy government conspiracies from previous episodes, especially in Superman. It expanded the scope of our show beyond just Justice League Unlimited.

It expanded backwards to Superman and Batman and even forward to Batman Beyond.”

The Cadmus storyline featured Lex Luthor’s efforts to further undermine the trust in Superman, and by association, the Justice League, that was laid down in “Legacy.” Indeed, Superman is shocked to find one of his oldest, but now former friends, Dr. Emil Hamilton, even working against him. The storyline ends with the League having to go head-to-head with a Luthor and Brainiac hybrid. With two of his greatest foes defeated, Superman suggests disbanding the League, and is surprised to find that there are those who would have the League continue, and for it to do so, it needs the Man of Steel. In the end, the faith that was left wavering towards Superman at the end of his own series is restored, and had the series ended here, as it was intended after an episode set in the Batman Beyond future, it would have been a fitting conclusion to the storyline that had carried over from Superman: The Animated Series.

Outside of an appearance by Orion in the Flash-centric episode “Flash and Substance,” the Fourth World characters weren’t utilized that much in Justice League Unlimited’s second season. This season saw Luthor working with Gorilla Grodd’s Legion of Doom to try and recover any scrap of Brainiac’s technology, knowing he can again merge with his computer mind with even the tiniest bit.

Luthor’s quest to recover Brainiac does lead him to the site of Darkseid and Superman’s last battle, and the show’s finale concerned Luthor accidentally resurrecting Darkseid, who returns to Apokolips to stop the civil war there and then lead a final attack on Earth.

Superman and Darkseid have their final battle, and the episode ends with one of the most brutal fights of the entire series. The use of Darkseid makes a brilliant counterbalance to the Legion of Doom storyline that had been going on in the final season. With Luthor having been the leader of the bad guys all this time, Darkseid returned to prove who truly was the bigger threat to mankind. “Darkseid is the best villain DC has, really, not counting the Joker,” says Tucker. “Unlike Justice League Season Two, where we used him to get the show back on course, by the end of Justice League Unlimited he was simply a big bad we could depend on to close the series out in a big way.”

Darkseid’s return also led to one of the most surprising character developments in the Timmverse. In the end, it isn’t Superman who stops Darkseid, but rather Luthor.

“The final season of Justice League Unlimited was basically about the redemption of Lex Luthor,” says Tucker. “Many of the plots surrounded him forming the Legion of Doom, but that was really a McGuffin we used to focus on his character. I don’t think we went into the final season knowing Darkseid was going to show up, as much as we knew we wanted Luthor to save the day somehow.”

After its existence is revealed to him by Metron (voiced

by Daniel Dae Kim), Luthor bargains with Darkseid to give the despot the one thing he wants most in the universe, the Anti-Life Equation. In ultimately defeating Darkseid, Luthor sacrifices his life and dies a hero. Thus ended the Timmverse’s take on the Fourth World Saga—but there were still different and new interpretations yet to be had…

BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD (2008–2011)

Batman: The Brave and the Bold went into development shortly after Justice League Unlimited ended its run on Cartoon Network. This Batman team-up series, which was more lighthearted than the Timmverse shows, was a love letter to the Silver and Bronze Ages of Comics, and it was a perfect series to showcase many of Kirby’s odder creations from the early 1970s, including the occasional Fourth World character. “I loved a lot of Kirby’s DC characters that weren’t tied to the New Gods,” reveals James Tucker, “like Kamandi and OMAC, so eventually I got to use them in Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Even though we managed to fit in many Fourth World characters into Brave and Bold, like Mantis, the Female Furies, Steppenwolf, and Darkseid, I wish we’d done more with Mister Miracle (and Big Barda) besides the one teaser he got. I think we could’ve built a whole episode around him.”

Darkseid and the forces of Apokolips were front and center as the main threat to Earth in the Season Two finale “Darkseid Descending.” Before this episode, a teaser featuring the Question ran before “The Knights of Tomorrow.” The Question is sent to gather recon on a possible invasion, which he does, and which is serious enough to warrant Batman forming an all-new Justice League in the two-parter that followed. “I knew that I wanted to do something with the comedic Justice League International,” says Tucker. “Due to rights issues, we weren’t allowed Superman or Wonder Woman on the series until Season Three, so we couldn’t have a traditional Justice League, which I wasn’t that interested in anyway. We’d introduced a lot of the characters from JLI already on The Brave and Bold, so it seemed natural to form a version of the Justice League International for the show.”

As it turns out, the decision to create the Justice League International on Batman: The Brave and the Bold stemmed from another reason, one which was meant to keep the series alive. “[The idea to do Justice League International] was around the end of Season

Terrible Trio Kalibak the cruel, his papa Darkseid, and the malevolent Mantis, from Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Character design: James Tucker with Lynell Forestall; inks: Robert Lacko; color: Craig Cuqro with Christina Long.

Courtesy of James Tucker.

TM & © DC Comics/ Warner Bros. Television.

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From the Animated Movies (top) Big Barda with DC’s Trinity, from Superman/ Batman: Apocalypse. (bottom) The ominous Darkseid, from Justice League: War. TM & © DC Comics/ Warner Bros. Television.

Two, and we were hearing rumblings that we might not get another season if we didn’t rebrand the show in some way,” says Tucker.

“That’s when Michael Jelenic, my co-producer, and I figured out that we could spin Brave and Bold off into a Justice League International series, if this episode worked. As I said earlier, Darkseid is the biggest bad DC really has to offer, so he’s the go-to guy when you want to make a big impression or make the threat to your heroes seem unsurmountable.”

Batman: The Brave and the Bold brought in relative newcomer Michael Leon-Wooley as the voice of Darkseid, a role that went against his usual type. “Michael Leon-Wooley was brought up by Andrea Romano,” says Tucker. “I believe he’d only done The Princess and the Frog at the point, so he didn’t have a lot of animation under his belt at the time. He worked out fine, though it would’ve been nice to tap into his comedic timing more, but Darkseid’s not that kinda role, usually.”

Speaking of missed opportunities, Tucker goes on to explain there were some other stories he would have liked to have done focusing on the Fourth World, including one that would have been a huge departure from what had come previously. “I would’ve liked to have done a whole episode taking place on Apokolips but with some sort of twist,” explains Tucker. “A musical on Apokolips would’ve been a fun premise, as would be seeing our version of Aquaman out of his element. Bernadeth was always a freaky character that I thought would’ve been fun to use. I like her design. Granny Goodness and the Black Racer would’ve been fun, too.”

Batman: The Brave and the Bold only lasted three seasons. It was that superhero series that was all too rare, fun and lighthearted and one that was never willing to take itself too seriously, although it did treat the characters it showcased, especially Kirby’s, with the utmost respect and reverence.

SUPERMAN/BATMAN: APOCALYPSE (2010)

This animated film featuring Superman and Batman is the first one we will examine that was an adaptation of a comic-book storyline, in this case “The Supergirl from Krypton,” which ran in Superman/Batman #8–13 (May–Oct. 2004), written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Michael Turner. The film’s focus is the arrival of Supergirl on Earth, but the story also concerns the potential threat she represents if she can be swayed to join Darkseid and lead Granny Goodness’ Female Furies. “In this case, it’s not just Superman versus Apokolips,” said Gregory Noveck, SVP Creative Affairs for DC Comics on the Superman/Batman: Apocalypse Extra. “It’s Superman versus Apokolips, with Supergirl caught in the middle, and that is a very emotional situation for Superman.” Unlike the other battles fans had seen previously, the final one in this movie between Superman and Darkseid is much more personal. More is at stake here than a city or a planet—this is family fighting for family.

Like with Superman: The Animated Series, the storytellers wanted a threat worthy of the Man of Steel and, in the end, only one being could bring that kind of menace to the table. “We have a hard time coming up with Superman stories,” said Bruce Timm on the same special. “Here’s this guy and he has all these powers, and what is the threat? Darkseid himself is one of the main bad guys of the DC Universe. He’s like this evil god.”

While Kevin Conroy and Tim Daly returned to their roles of Batman and Superman, respectively, and Ed Asner again returned to voice Granny Goodness, several new voice actors were tapped to play familiar roles, including Julianne Grossman taking over as Big Barda, Salli Saffioti as Mad Harriet (and new Female Fury, Galtian), and Andrea Romano as Stompa. The biggest change was the replacement of Michael Ironside as Darkseid by actor Andre Braugher. “The DVDs were being treated differently [than the animated shows],” Alan Burnett tells BI. “We wanted guest-stars, so some of the usual players in the series were changed.

I think that’s how we ended up with Braugher, who was quite good.”

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YOUNG JUSTICE (2010–2013, 2018–?)

Of all the shows and movies featured in this article, Young Justice is the one whose story hasn’t been completed yet. Even though it was canceled after just two seasons on Cartoon Network, at this writing the show’s third season is currently being readied for DC’s new streaming service, which is great news for fans that recognize this as one of the best DC animated shows ever produced. The Kirby influence here was initially confined to the introduction of Project Cadmus, this time bearing more of a resemblance to what Kirby originally envisioned, as it featured the Guardian as the site’s head of security and included the DNAlien, Dubbilex.

The secrets of the Cadmus are exposed when Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash go to help with a fire at the site and discover the secrets that it is hiding, including a clone of Superman—Superboy. Superboy later encounters the Forever People—Vykin (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson), Dreamer (voiced by Grey DeLisle), Bear (voiced by Bill Fagerbakke), and Moonrider and Serifan (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) in the first-season episode “Disordered,” to date marking this group’s lone appearance in DC animation. The youngsters from New Genesis come looking for the New Genisphere, a sentient sphere that Superboy had liberated previously in the episode “Bereft,” and which has since “adopted” the Boy of Steel. In the end, the Forever People aid Superboy in stopping a transfer of arms from Apokolips to Intergang that is being overseen by Desaad (also voiced by Bradley), and in the process become friends with the young clone.

Young Justice was originally canceled after just two seasons, and when the show ended, it did so on a note that indicated that the best was yet to come. The final batch of episodes of Season Two saw the villain Mongul coming to Earth and threatening the planet with the Warworld. In the end, a struggle to maintain Warworld was played out, with the planetary death machine being taken over

by Vandal Savage, and in the final moments of the last episode, “Endgame,” being turned over to Darkseid. There were strong indicators that Darkseid and his minions were to be the central villains in Season Three. We shall see how events play out when the show returns in 2018.

Besides the confrontation with Darkseid, Justice League: War focuses on the conflict of the Justice League coming together and learning how to work together and become a team. “Geoff Johns, the writer of the series, thinks of the Justice League as this group of iconic heroes who all get along and they’re this amazing team that are like family,” said Jim Lee in the DVD extra, Deconstructing Justice League: War. “I think you really want to show the humanity behind each of the characters and establish with all these A-Type personalities you’re going to have a lot of conflict and drama because they are all used to getting their own way.” In the end, egos must be put aside and the Justice League must come together to defeat Darkseid.

The biggest contribution that was made by the New 52 reboot, which is reflected in this film, is the emphasis that is put on the fact that Darkseid is indeed very, very inhuman. “[With the New 52] here is this opportunity to relaunch the universe,” said Lee in the documentary.

“Characters like Darkseid or Doomsday are not humans, they are aliens.

They are almost god-like. We [started] talking about making them much more massive and larger.”

Indeed, in the previous animated installments, Darkseid is a threat that was mainly handled by Superman. In this film, he is a threat that all the members must help to take down. The New 52 reboot was wrought with a lot of controversies, but this was one thing that worked in its favor—Darkseid is a power not to be taken lightly, and he is never more menacing than he is here.

Ironically, the cosmic despot would go from this representation to one a bit more on the ridiculous side…

TEEN TITANS GO! (2013–present)

Teen Titans Go! is not exactly the kind of hard-hitting, dramatic animated show that Warner Bros. usually does with DC’s superheroes, so it should have come as no surprise that when Darkseid made an appearance in a special two-part episode where he had captured the Justice League, the producers recruited “Weird” Al Yankovic to voice him. This episode, “Two Parter,” has a couple of funny bits including Darkseid praising “Weird” Al for parodying and mocking the songs of real musicians, and there is a running gag about how Cyborg wants to join the Justice League and how that is never going to happen.

What can I say, in humor there is always a nugget of truth somewhere…

JUSTICE LEAGUE: WAR (2014)

November 2017’s Justice League movie centered around the team coming together to face the threat of Darkseid’s minion Steppenwolf attacking Earth. Darkseid’s invasion has become the new origin story for the League via the events seen in the New 52 reboot in Justice League #1–6 (Oct. 2011–Mar. 2012) by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. Since the forces of Apokolips are the greatest challenge for DC’s mightiest heroes, the adaptation of that comic-book story also led the way for a new slate of animated films from Warner Bros. animation based on the reboot.

Darkseid Gets Weird… … “Weird” Al Yankovic, that is, as the despot’s voice, on Teen Titans Go! TM & © DC Comics/Warner Bros. Television.

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JUSTICE LEAGUE: GODS AND MONSTERS (2015)

Kirby’s Creations Keep on Comin’! (top) Bekka, “Mrs. Orion,” as the Wonder Woman of Justice League: Gods and Monsters. (bottom) Big Barda and Virmin Vundabarr with Batman, and (inset) Steppenwolf, as seen on Justice League Action.

TM & © DC Comics/ Warner Bros. Television.

Justice League: Gods and Monsters features a darker, edgier version of the DC Trinity. The Superman in this universe is the son of General Zod, the Batman here is the vampiric Dr. Kirk Langstrom, and the Wonder Woman of this Earth is Bekka (voiced by Tamara Taylor), the wife of Orion, who was first seen in Kirby’s The Hunger Dogs graphic novel. In the animated film, Bekka is still married Orion, who in this universe was raised on Apokolips.

The marriage was a ruse to get close to Orion and the other members of the royal family of Apokolips and kill them. After the deed is done and she sees how she was used, Bekka goes to Earth and becomes Wonder Woman.

From there, the plot concerns the heroes investigating the deaths of three different scientists, Dr. Victor Fries, Ray Palmer, and Silas Stone, along with Stone’s son, Vic. In the end, this version of the League must stop a crazed Dr. Will Magnus from using Boom Tube technology to teleport nanites into every person on the planet, linking them together. They also must fight Dr. Magnus’ Metal Men as well.

The film ends with Bekka choosing to leave the League and face her past on New Genesis. Hopefully, there will someday be a sequel to this version of the Justice League.

Alternate universes always make for interesting stories, and I for one would love to see more of this alternate take on the Fourth World which is merely glimpsed here.

JUSTICE LEAGUE ACTION (2016–2017) Justice League Action is, at this writing, the latest DC animated series from Cartoon Network.

The show is fun, but tends to borrow more in the vein of Teen Titans Go!

than Justice League or Justice League Unlimited.

“Originally, we started out as a pretty straight adventure show,” says Alan Burnett. “After all, we were going mostly for the toy-buying 6–8-year-old crowd.

The idea is that we would always start in the thick of action, almost as if starting in the third act, and having our viewers catch up to what the battle was about as the story progressed. These were 11-minute episodes.

But then word came down from Cartoon Network that they wanted more comedy, and we quickly retooled the show to be more of a character comedy, which was fine with us. By that time [producer/writer] Jim Krieg had joined the show, and he’s one of those rare guys who’s as good in comedy as he is in action.

But even though there are a lot of laughs, we still took the danger seriously.”

One of the great things about Justice League Action is that it has been a show that has showcased many DC characters, including Fourth World creations in two episodes that have aired so far. In “Under a Red Sun,” Stephenwolf (voiced by Peter Jessop) transports Superman to a planet with a red sun, where he believes the Man of Steel will be an easy target. Big Barda teams up with Batman to try and learn where Superman has been taken so they can launch a rescue. In “The Fatal Fare,” it is up to Space Cabbie to save Superman when he falls into the hands of Darkseid (voiced by Jonathan Adams), Desaad (voiced by Jason J. Lewis), and Kanto (voiced by Troy Baker).

Justice League Action has been plagued by bad timeslots and low promotion from Cartoon Network.

The promise of seeing more of the Fourth World characters, or any other DC heroes in further adventures, is probably not going to happen. “I don’t think there will be a second season,” says Burnett. “The show pretty much got buried in the schedule. Maybe it will have a new life in a new venue, I don’t know. But I think it’s a lot of fun and deserves a television audience.”

CONCLUSION

Jack Kirby’s Fourth World has been in animated fare for over 30 years now, yet even with the stories that have been told it still feels like only the tip of the iceberg has been exposed. The King left impressive characters that are still ripe for developing and others that have not even been tapped. Here’s to the future adaptations that will carry the exploration of the Fourth World and its saga forward, and may they do justice to its creator.

As I was writing this article on Sunday, August 13, 2017, I learned of the passing of actor Joseph Bologna, who voiced Lt. Dan Turpin on Superman: The Animated Series.

This article is dedicated to his memory.

DAN JOHNSON is a comics writer whose work can be found in Cemetery Plots from Empire Comics Lab. His other notable comics work includes Herc and Thor for Antarctic Press and several books for Campfire Graphic Novels. He is also a gag writer for the Dennis the Menace comic strip.

72 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

TM

by M

ichael Eury

On September 29, 2016, Comic Book Resources One might assume that Bruce Timm, the co-architect (CBR.com) posted a news item sharing illustrator of Warner Bros. Television’s animated version of the Mike Mignola’s character designs for an DC Universe, would be involved with such a unrealized New Gods animated movie… and project—especially since his love of Kirby’s over the next few days, these images Fourth World crept into episodes of swarmed the Internet faster than a Superman: The Animated Series. “I had plague of Parademons. no involvement in that particular As you’ve read elsewhere in this issue, Fourth World development,” Timm the denizens of Jack Kirby’s Fourth informs BACK ISSUE. “That was with World have populated DC Comics’ the short-lived WB Feature Animation animated and cinematic universes as division (Quest for Camelot, Iron Giant), well as its comic books, but the notion I think. The feature people were a of a standalone animated film exploring completely separate division, in a this epic saga, featuring the visual designs different building, even a different part of of Hellboy creator and Cosmic Odyssey town—us lowly TV folks had literally artist Mike Mignola, is mindboggling. no connection to them whatsoever.

My Mother Box is currently mum Afraid I’m a dead end.” mike mignola Actually, Bruce, you were a very about the subject, so let’s see what we can discover without her help. Join me Photo by Christine Mignola. helpful first step—now we know this as we unravel a mystery second only to the Anti-Life wasn’t a made-for-TV or home-video movie project, Equation—the Greatest Story Never Told of the New Gods but instead an animated movie intended for animated movie… theatrical release.

Mother Box Office A Mike Mignoladesigned New Gods animated movie almost became a reality! (above) Inside the screen: detail from Cosmic Odyssey #1’s cover.

Art and characters TM & © DC Comics.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 73

TM & © DC Comics.

Warner Bros. Pictures started its Feature Animation division in 1994, in response to the box-office success of Disney’s The Lion King. It remained in operation until the mid-2000s, with Space Jam and Osmosis Jones among its other credits. So that gives us a ballpark date for the Fourth World animated project, which Mike Mignola himself confirms: “All I remember was that we were living in downtown Portland, [Oregon,] [when I did the designs,] so that means sometime between 1996 and 2001.”

Next I turned to former DC Comics executive (and DC historian extraordinaire) Paul Levitz to ask about what he recalled about the project. According to Paul, “It was a wonderful script, by Tim Hauser, I think, and I loved Mike’s work. Definitely WB’s short-lived Feature Animation division.”

That “PING!”-ing you hear is Mother Box cheerfully chirping in agreement. Animation producer, writer, and book author Tim Hauser (not to be confused with the Manhattan Transfer singer of the same name) was indeed heavily involved with the production, and tells BACK ISSUE, “My recollection is that I wrote several drafts of an extended treatment for The New Gods while an in-house Producer in Development at Warner Bros. Feature Animation (back when it was a separate unit from the TV animation group). During that time there was an abandoned script started by Dan O’Bannon, followed by several drafts of a full-length script by Kirk DiMicco.”

You’re no doubt wondering, What was the storyline of the animated feature? From the Mignola sketches accompanying this article, Young Darkseid and Young Scott Free are among the characters, indicating that this movie may have been a prequel to the saga that Kirby began, or would at least reveal such information in flashbacks.

“I don’t know that I ever had any idea what the story was,” Mignola says. “Almost certain I never had an outline or script. I think I was just given lists of characters to do and maybe just a little explanation as to what characters were to be used for—but I had no real sense of what the big story was.”

Tim Hauser, however, is happy to share more plot details, and brings the project into a clearer focus for the benefit of BACK ISSUE’s readers.

“Here’s what I remember about the pitch without having read the treatment again in many years: “New Genesis and Apokolips were long-battling rival planets with extreme polar-opposite characteristics, ruled by Highfather and Darkseid,” Hauser relates. “In a peace pact, the young scions of each planet (Orion and Scott Free) were swapped, each as a hostage to the other, and grew up not knowing who they really were. As they matured, their true natures began to emerge. Darkseid schemed to break the pact and planned to obliterate New Genesis, but when Orion and Scott meet (after initially battling) they team (along with Big Barda) to defeat his plan and discover their true identities. I don’t recall the nature of the ‘machine’ aspect of the plot, but the device that was intended to eliminate New Genesis was altered (with the help of Metron, perhaps), and instead, the two ‘half planets’ were merged into one ‘whole planet’ with a balance of darkness and light—and our heroes emerge as the new leaders for this new, hopeful world.”

By the Source, Warner Bros. Feature Animation was sticking close to the source material, as envisioned by Jack “King” Kirby lo, those many decades ago. Surely, someone within the division had to be a comic-book fan.

That person? Tim Hauser.

“We were also trying to find ways to do a project that was stylish and theatrical quality on a relatively limited budget,” Hauser reveals.

“A DC reader much of my life, in my job I was exploring the library of properties available to us at the time (not the Big Three) that I thought would make good standalone films that had the requisite visual storytelling aspects and a mythic feel and dramatic character arcs.

I had worked at Walt Disney Feature Animation prior and was interested in sci-fi/superheroes as sort of modern fairy tales. Familiar with the Kirby comics from the ’70s, the story pitch was sort of a one-shot interpretation of his many ideas and characters (no wider DCU tie-ins).

Of all the DC stories we pitched as an in-house team, The New Gods consistently got the best reaction from management, so we were given a go-ahead to proceed with further development. The execs seemed to respond well to the epic Star Wars–ish nature of the concept.

But the visual development gradually veered away from Kirby (sadly), as a more illustrative look got a better reaction.

74 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

New Gods and related characters TM & © DC Comics.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 75

New Gods and related characters TM & © DC Comics.

76 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

“It was during this time that we hired Mike Mignola and others (freelance) to explore the characters,” Hauser adds. “There was also quite a bit of in-house inspirational art, deviating from the Kirby look, developed by staff artists, including August Hall. Doing the film in an anime style was discussed at length, and several potential name directors were explored, but no deals that came to fruition. Development Executive Laura Harkcom was also on this project. We created various concepts and pitches for about two years, to my memory (mid-1990s).”

Mike Mignola was up to the task of reimagining Kirby’s cosmic cast, although it was a mission he found a bit puzzling. “The only thing I really remember is that they came to me for this thing because they felt I had a feel for Kirby characters, but wanted me to redesign Kirby characters,” he says. “I never really understood why, if they wanted Kirby, they wanted the stuff changed. But it was kind of an interesting challenge—completely different than doing Cosmic Odyssey, because in that book I was just drawing the Kirby characters. I wasn’t doing anything in that one to actually alter the original characters.”

Tim Hauser remembers that the primary cast of The New Gods movie consisted of the usual suspects from Kirby’s magnum opus. “The characters we utilized most were Orion, Scott Free/Mister Miracle, Big Barda, Highfather, Darkseid, Metron, Granny Goodness, and Desaad, with many other cameos from the various Kirby titles (I don’t recall if Steppenwolf was in it). No DCU ‘Earth-One’ characters were involved in the plot.”

Regarding the Dark Lord of Apokolips, Mike Mignola believes that “King” Kirby set an unmatchable standard.

“I remember the hardest thing about doing the animation thing was coming up for a different design for Darkseid, because I thought he was pretty much just perfect as he was. I couldn’t see any other way of doing him—so in the end I think I just added a couple big bolts sticking out of him.”

Despite his extraordinary renditions of Darkseid and other Fourth World denizens in the Jim Starlin-penned Cosmic Odyssey epic and the character renditions shared in this article, Mignola drops a bombshell regarding Kirby’s fabled Fourth World: “As I was never a DC fan and never really knew much about the New Gods, I don’t think I was even very curious about the story.”

His personal indifference to the subject matter certainly never translated into the artwork, which was spectacular… and Tim Hauser agrees. “Mignola was the key freelancer with the visual take everyone loved,” Hauser says. “He was able to keep the Kirby influence flowing but expand it into an original take.

His work was gorgeous. However, we didn’t get much beyond the visual exploration stage with any of it, just enough for pitching and a go-ahead for script— no production models.”

Twice now Mr. Hauser has mentioned other freelance artists considered for Warner Bros. Feature Animation’s New Gods film. Who were they? “I believe we asked Steve Rude if he was available, but he may have been busy or wasn’t interested unless it were closer to pure Kirby,” Hauser says. “Otherwise, a range of character designs were done by internal WBFA staff artists. We talked to Otomo (of AKIRA) about the project, and he was open to exploring it if WB was also interested in his personal Steam Boy project.

But these things never came to be.”

Underperforming theatrical releases from Warner Bros.

Feature Animation led the company to shut down the division, with the plug being pulled on The New Gods… and another project of interest to BACK ISSUE readers.

“Though many were pitched in various forms and lengths, the other DC project we were allowed to do extensive development on at the time was Aquaman,” Hauser reveals.

By Poseidon’s trident! A full-length, animated Aquaman movie was a possibility some two decades ago? That is yet another Greatest Story Never Told, one which we’ll explore in BI #108—our “All-Aquaman Issue,” commemorating Warner Bros.’ live-action Aquaman movie.

But in the meantime, we close this installment in a dream state, fantasizing over the missed opportunity of a New Gods animated motion picture. However, as Kirby’s durable creations repeatedly prove to us, the Fourth World has frequently defied the final curtain, rising again and again to share its eternal clash of titans.

We may yet see an animated New Gods Boom Tube its way to the box office.

Special thanks to Tim Hauser, Paul Levitz, Mike Mignola, Steve Rude, and Bruce Timm.

Mignola Does the “Real” Fourth World From the Heritage files (www.ha.com), original Mike Mignola art to a page from the first issue of the Jim Starlin-written, Carlos Garzon-inked Cosmic Odyssey #1.

TM & © DC Comics.

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 77

Send your comments to: Email: euryman@gmail.com (subject: BACK ISSUE) Postal mail: Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief • BACK ISSUE 118 Edgewood Ave. NE * Concord, NC 28025

Find BACK ISSUE on

Batman and Harley Quinn TM &

© DC Comics.

WHY EDITORS GO GRAY DEPARTMENT

Our apologies (and shared frustration) over the delay many of you had in getting your copy of BACK ISSUE #99 from your comic shop. A shipping error misdirected Diamond Distribution’s copies to the TwoMorrows office, and TwoMorrows’ copies were sent to Diamond, meaning Diamond originally could not fill all of its orders on the issue. This would have been an aggravating matter for any issue, but even more so for this one, as its Batman: The Animated Series 25th Anniversary coverage netted larger than usual orders. The matter was soon rectified, but not before some of you received BI #100 before getting a copy of #99. Thanks for your patience during this matter.

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

I was re-reading some of issue #99 and I think I caught an error.

What I noticed was on page 38. The image with Bullock and Man-Bat is issue [The Batman Adventures] #11, not #7.

– James Harvey The World’s Finest (worldsfinestonline.com) You’re right, James. Issue #7 was a Killer Croc story. (Thanks for promoting BI #99 on your site, by the way.)

Ye ed goofed on another caption in the issue, too. On page 68, the Paul Dini/Bruce Timm cartoon cameos are not from Batman: The Animated Series but from the series finale of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, an episode titled “Legends of the Dark Mite!”

BALANCED ORAL HISTORIES

BI #99 was, as usual, highly entertaining. I do, however, have a critique of the Batman: TAS Oral History. I feel that some of Mike W. Barr’s quotes needed a counterpoint, if not an outright rebuttal; especially where he is talking about Mask of the Phantasm. I am not saying that he is wrong concerning some of his accusations, as I have no firsthand knowledge; but not having someone inside the production give their side of the story is unfair to the production team. Maybe something to keep in mind for future oral histories?

– Douglass Abramson Douglass, I’ll let John Trumbull, who produced the BTAS Oral History, respond…

For the record, I sent the completed BTAS Oral History to all of my interview subjects for their quote approvals, to give everyone the chance to refine their comments on the history of BTAS, and rebut anything they disagreed with (for instance, the back and forth between Martin Pasko and Mike

W. Barr is a result of that). Most of the changes were minor, along the lines of polishing quotes here and there. But obviously, some people are going to disagree and have different recollections about certain things.

That’s what I like about the oral history format—everyone presents their own take and readers decide for themselves where the truth lies.

In his response, Bruce Timm told me that while he could dispute Mike Barr’s recollection on the origins of Mask of the Phantasm, he ultimately decided to let Barr have his say. I get the feeling that BT isn’t especially interested in rehashing 25-year-old disagreements (and neither am I, except as a matter of historical record). In our phone interview, Paul Levitz said that he did not recall anything about the Phantasm conflict from his end. I unfortunately did not get to ask Phantasm plotter Alan Burnett about the issue when we spoke via email. If any of these gentlemen care to revisit the topic, I’d be happy to speak with them again and share their responses with BI readers.

Space considerations unfortunately forced me to give Mask of the Phantasm short shrift in the article in favor of less-covered areas of BTAS. But I was remiss in not inserting an author’s note explaining that Timm chose not to comment, and I apologize for any confusion that may have caused. I am currently working to expand my BTAS Oral History into a full history of the DCAU, and I promise I will make it as comprehensive as I possibly can.

– John Trumbull

TIMM’S TERRIFIC!

Thank you for the Batman: The Animated Series 25th Anniversary issue. I had been looking forward to this one ever since I saw it in your upcoming products section (which I check quite frequently!).

As Batman is one of my favorite characters, I can say I have enjoyed nearly every iteration and interpretation of him. Yes, including the Adam West series, and even the 1977 animated series with Bat-Mite, although that one might be pushing even my tolerance point.

Batman: The Animated Series is definitely a highpoint in the character’s filmed history. The interviews with the show’s creators and additional background on its history were entertaining. I have the coffee-table book, Batman: Animated, which was referred to in the article, and I would encourage fans of this groundbreaking show to get a copy. It’s an excellent companion piece, not only for background on the show’s beginnings but as a showcase for Bruce Timm’s awesome artwork, including more initial character designs.

However, the book was published before the series ended, so unfortunately it is missing some later concepts and episodes.

As usual, your magazine helped me discover something I wasn’t aware of: Bruce Timm’s short story in the Adventures in the DC Universe comic. I’m a fan of his work and am always looking for more, so discovering something I wasn’t aware of makes my day a little better.

Sure, I could look online and find a complete list, but somehow it seems more fun to find these things unexpectedly. I can always count on discovering something in each issue of your magazine, which is one of the reasons I keep coming back every month.

I’m about to start reading your 100th issue, so keep up the great work, and thanks again to you and the writers. I’m looking forward to the next 100!

– Scott Andrews We couldn’t have made it to issue #100 without loyal readers like you, Scott.

100 more? I’m hoping! Ye ed will be ye olde ed by the time BI #200 rolls around in 2029 or so, but editing this magazine keeps me young, so why not?

WANTED: THE ANIMATED SUPERMAN

What a great issue [BACK ISSUE #99]! Wish I’d been on your writers’ pool in time to contribute to it, but the folks who were did a great job!

My only complaint, and it’s a mild one, was I wish you’d had a Superman [animated] episode guide in there as well. I saw the new Batman and Harley Quinn movie at Comic-Con, and it was great!

Very different from the usual fare.

The nice thing is, there’s plenty of room for a sequel, or even sequels.

There Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, Batman Beyond, Static Shock, The Zeta Project, Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century,

78 • BACK ISSUE • Four th World After Kirby Issue

Richard, I foresee an eventual return to the Animated DC Universe in BI, particularly Superman: The Animated Series (with a Superman episode guide), but the BTAS anniversary coverage in #99 deserved the lion’s share of its pages. Regarding the newer additions to the ADCU, they’re much too recent to warrant a full exploration in a magazine titled BACK ISSUE, but when pertinent to a theme or topic they will be mentioned—as with this issue’s Animated New Gods article.

Early independents? Not a bad idea for a future theme.

And for those of you interested in learning more about Mike Friedrich’s revolutionary Star*Reach anthology (whose name Mike later appropriated for his comic artist talent agency), look no further than Richard Arndt’s own Star*Reach Companion, from TwoMorrows.

THE RETURN OF THE SAINT

After a long absence from BI due to unemployment and not having any disposable income, I’m back buying, reading, and enjoying BACK ISSUE! I’ve bought the last few issues but haven’t had anything to say until #99. A great issue overall regarding the BTAS 25th anniversary.

Never knew Mike W. Barr had such issues with the series. I immediately thought of the Reaper when I saw Phantasm. I guess we’ll have to wait until 2021 for a 25th anniversary article on Superman: TAS since there wasn’t one last year. Then again, there wasn’t an article or any kind of celebration on BTAS for its 20th in 2012. Guess one has to wait for the 25th before a big deal is made.

I swear I thought that drawing of Gilad Abrams by Paul Gulacy in the letters section was his version of Lobo. Sure looks like the “Main Man.” Looking forward to reading BI #100.

Glad to be back.

Delmo (The Saint) Walters, Jr. We’re glad you’re back, Delmo!

ON KIRBY AND WEIN

Having not written to you for far too long, I intended to compose an email reassuring you that I was continuing to enjoy BACK ISSUE, and congratulating you on not only reaching 100 issues, but maintaining indefeasibly high levels of interest and quality.

That plan changed as a result of two things.

The first was my reading Kirby, King of Comics by Mark Evanier. The second was learning a few moments ago that Len Wein had sadly passed away [on September 10, 2017, as reported last issue].

I have to admit that, until recently, I wasn’t a huge fan of Jack Kirby. Oh, don’t get me wrong.

My first exposure to superhero comics (in the British reprint titles like Mighty World of Marvel) Iron Fist and Master of Kung Fu TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

consisted almost entirely of early Kirby (with a bit of Ditko by way of variety), and I loved those stories. The problem was that, by the time I was 12 (1977, in case anyone’s been following the Barker saga), I’d discovered artists like John Buscema, Jim Starlin, and Neal Adams, and suddenly Kirby looked old hat. And I wasn’t thrilled with his later work on titles such as Captain America and Black Panther.

With the benefit of (alleged) maturity, I’ve come to appreciate Jack’s enormous impact on the world of comics. This revised viewpoint was hammered home by Mr. Evanier’s fantastic book, which painted a vivid picture of the battles which his mentor had had to fight throughout a long career, without getting (until near the end, at least) the plaudits he was due.

As for Len, he was never my favorite comic-book writer (that will always be Roy Thomas), but he was one of my favorites, along with the likes of Steve Englehart and Gerry Conway. Their names conjure up (for this reader, at least) happy memories of so many classic 1970s stories. I don’t read modern comics, though I’m aware of writers like Dan Slott, Geoff Johns, et al., because I hear their names mentioned quite regularly. I’m sure that they’re very talented gentlemen, and heroes to a lot of current fans. But they’re not my heroes.

Several years ago I mentioned, in a letter that you were gracious enough to print in BI, how depressing it was to have to understand that not all gods are immortal, and that the creators whose work we hold so dear can’t live forever.

At least we have the consolation of being able to read, and enjoy, the body of work that these gifted geniuses left behind. As the years go by, there are fewer and fewer of these individuals left. At least, thanks to fabulous magazines like BI, I know that I’ll not be alone in missing the likes of Len Wein.

On a more upbeat note, my love for the “good old days” allowed me to appear on the UK’s top quiz show, Mastermind, last year, when I successfully answered questions on Marvel Comics 1960–1980.

You see, it wasn’t a wasted youth after all.

I do promise to write soon about BI itself, Michael. It just seemed that today there were other things I had to say.

Best wishes, as always, and thank you for the incredible work that you and your colleagues do. It’s greatly appreciated, but I think you knew that already.

– Dave Barker Thank you, Dave, for those words and for being such a loyal reader.

I’m glad you’ve developed an appreciation of Jack Kirby. As you’ve seen from the creators interviewed in this issue, you’re not alone.

And Len Wein was one of a kind!

Next issue: The Bronze Age’s greatest fist-fighters punch and kick their way into our DEADLY HANDS issue! Coverage of Iron Fist, Master of Kung Fu, Yang, the Bronze Tiger, JIM CRAIG’s Hands of the Dragon, NEAL ADAMS’ Armor, Marvel’s Deadly Hands of Kung Fu mag, and… Hong Kong Phooey!

Plus Muhammad Ali in toons and toys.

Featuring JOHN BYRNE, CHRIS CLAREMONT, STEVE ENGLEHART, PAUL GULACY, LARRY HAMA, DOUG MOENCH, DENNY O’NEIL, JOHN OSTRANDER, WARREN SATTLER, JIM STARLIN, and others. Re-presenting EARL NOREM’s painted cover to 1976’s Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #29. Don’t ask—just BI it! See you in thirty!

Your friendly neighborhood Euryman, Michael Eury, editor-in-chief

Four th World After Kirby Issue • BACK ISSUE • 79

© 2008 Mark Evanier.

Young Justice (especially since a new third season is upcoming), plus the various shorts that the Cartoon Network ran over the years, the mini online episodes of Gotham Girls, and Justice League Action—then there’s the various non-Batman Animated Universe movies and the new Batman and Harley Quinn film. Lots more still to come, I hope! Great job on #99!

I’m just starting reading BI #100 and am enjoying it as well.

You should do an issue on other fanzines as well, though—Beyond the Tomb, Tales Too Terrible to Tell, Spooky, and others would make for an interesting Halloween issue, I would think.

An issue looking at the early independent titles like Sabre, Eclipse Magazine and Eclipse Monthly, Star*Reach, Imagine, Quack!, Hot Stuf’, Just Imagine, Orb, and the like, as well as a look at the various one-shots like Bop, etc.

Or a related one looking at various quality small publishers such as Mojo Press, Steve Bissette’s SpiderBaby Graphix, SQP, and the like would be interesting topics.

– Richard Arndt

NEW FOR 2018!

JACK KIRBY CHECKLIST: CENTENNIAL EDITION

This final, fully-updated, definitive edition clocks in at DOUBLE the length of the 2008 “Gold Edition”, in a new 256-page LTD. EDITION HARDCOVER (only 1000 copies) listing every release up to Jack’s 100th birthday! Detailed listings of all of Kirby’s published work, reprints, magazines, books, foreign editions, newspaper strips, fine art and collages, fanzines, essays, interviews, portfolios, posters, radio and TV appearances, and even Jack’s unpublished work!

(256-page LIMITED EDITION HARDCOVER) $34.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-083-0 • SHIPS APRIL 2018!

KIRBY & LEE: STUF’ SAID! (JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #75)

This first-of-its-kind examination of the creators of the Marvel Universe looks back at their own words, in chronological order, from fanzine, magazine, radio, and television interviews, to paint a picture of JACK KIRBY and STAN LEE’s relationship—why it succeeded, where it deteriorated, and when it eventually failed.

Also here are recollections from STEVE DITKO, WALLACE WOOD, JOHN ROMITA SR., and more Marvel Bullpen stalwarts who worked with both Kirby and Lee. Rounding out this book is a study of the duo’s careers after they parted ways as collaborators, including Kirby’s difficulties at Marvel Comics in the 1970s, his last hurrah with Lee on the Silver Surfer Graphic Novel, and his exhausting battle to get back his original art—and creator credit—from Marvel. STUF’ SAID gives both men their say, compares their recollections, and tackles the question, “Who really created the Marvel Comics Universe?”.

(160-page trade paperback) $24.95 • (Digital Edition) $11.95 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-086-1 • SHIPS FALL 2018!

COMIC BOOK IMPLOSION

AN ORAL HISTORY OF DC COMICS CIRCA 1978

Things looked bleak for comic books throughout the 1970s because of plummeting sell-through rates. With each passing year, the newsstand became less and less interested in selling comic books. The industry seemed locked in a death spiral, but the Powers That Be at DC Comics had an idea to reverse their fortunes.

In 1978, they implemented a bold initiative: Provide readers with more story pages by increasing the pricepoint of a regular comic book to make it comparable to other magazines sold on newsstands. Billed as “THE DC EXPLOSION,” this expansion saw the introduction of numerous creative new titles. But mere weeks after its launch, DC’s parent company pulled the plug, demanding a drastic decrease in the number of comic books they published, and leaving stacks of completed comic book stories unpublished. The series of massive cutbacks and cancellations quickly became known as “THE DC IMPLOSION.” TwoMorrows Publishing marks the 40th Anniversary of one of the most notorious events in comics with an exhaustive oral history from the creators and executives involved (JENETTE KAHN, PAUL LEVITZ, LEN WEIN, MIKE GOLD, and AL MILGROM, among many others), as well as detailed analysis and commentary by other top professionals, who were “just fans” in 1978 (MARK WAID, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, TOM BREVOORT, and more)—examining how it changed the landscape of comics forever! By KEITH DALLAS and JOHN WELLS. (136-page trade paperback with COLOR) $21.95 • (Digital Edition) $10.95 • SHIPS SUMMER 2018!

ISBN: 978-1-60549-085-4

AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES: The 1990s

AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES: THE 1990s is a year-by-year account of the comic book industry during the Bill Clinton years. This full-color hardcover documents the comic book industry’s most significant publications, most notable creators, and most impactful trends from that decade. Written by KEITH DALLAS and JASON SACKS. (288-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $44.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.95 • SHIPS FALL 2018!

ISBN: 978-1-60549-084-7

TwoMorrows.

The Future of Comics History.

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All characters TM & © their respective owners.

THE 1990s was the decade when Marvel Comics sold 8.1 million copies of an issue of the X-MEN, saw its superstar creators form their own company, cloned SPIDER-MAN, and went bankrupt. The 1990s was when SUPERMAN died, BATMAN had his back broken, and the runaway success of Neil Gaiman’s SANDMAN led to DC Comics’ VERTIGO line of adult comic books. It was the decade of gimmicky covers, skimpy costumes, and mega-crossovers. But most of all, the 1990s was the decade when companies like IMAGE, VALIANT and MALIBU published million-selling comic books before the industry experienced a shocking and rapid collapse.

ALTER EGO #153

ALTER EGO #154

ALTER EGO #155

ALTER EGO #156

BACK ISSUE #61: LONGBOX EDITION

Remembering Fabulous FLO STEINBERG, Stan Lee’s gal Friday during the Marvel Age of Comics—with anecdotes and essays by pros and friends who knew and loved her! Rare Marvel art, Flo’s successor ROBIN GREEN interviewed by RICHARD ARNDT about her time at Marvel, and Robin’s 1971 article on Marvel for ROLLING STONE magazine! Plus FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

ALLEN BELLMAN (1940s Timely artist) interviewed by DR. MICHAEL J. VASSALLO, with art by SHORES, BURGOS, BRODSKY, SEKOWSKY, EVERETT, & JAFFEE. Plus Marvel’s ’70s heroines: LINDA FITE & PATY COCKRUM on The Cat, CAROLE SEULING on Shanna the She-Devil, & ROY THOMAS on Night Nurse—with art by SEVERIN, FRADON, ANDRU, and more! With FCA, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

Golden Age artist/writer/editor NORMAN MAURER remembered by his wife JOAN, recalling BIRO’s Crime Does Not Pay, Boy Comics, Daredevil, St. John’s 3-D & THREE STOOGES comics with KUBERT, his THREE STOOGES movie (MOE was his father-inlaw!), and work for Marvel, DC, and others!

Plus LARRY IVIE’s 1959 plans for a JUSTICE SOCIETY revival, JOHN BROOME, FCA, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY and more!

All Time Classic Con continued from #148!

Panels on Golden Age (CUIDERA, HASEN, SCHWARTZ [LEW & ALVIN], BOLTINOFF, LAMPERT, GILL, FLESSEL) & Silver Age Marvel, DC, & Gold Key (SEVERIN, SINNOTT, AYERS, DRAKE, ANDERSON, FRADON, SIMONSON, GREEN, BOLLE, THOMAS), plus JOHN BROOME, FCA, MR. MONSTER, & BILL SCHELLY! Unused RON WILSON/CHRIS IVY cover!

(100-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $5.95 • Ships June 2018

(100-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $5.95 • Ships August 2018

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STANDARD-SIZE REPRINT OF SOLD-OUT #61! Covers every all-new ’70s tabloid, with checklist of reprint treasuries. Superman vs.

Spider-Man, The Bible, Cap’s Bicentennial Battles, Wizard of Oz, even the PAUL DINI/ALEX ROSS World’s Greatest SuperHeroes editions! With ADAMS, GARCIALOPEZ, GRELL, KIRBY, KUBERT, ROMITA SR., TOTH, and more. ALEX ROSS cover!

(100-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $5.95 • Ships Dec. 2018

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95 • Now shipping!

BACK ISSUE #105

BACK ISSUE #106

BACK ISSUE #107

BACK ISSUE #108

BACK ISSUE #109

DEADLY HANDS ISSUE! Histories of Iron Fist, Master of Kung Fu, Yang, the Bronze Tiger, Hands of the Dragon, NEAL ADAMS’ Armor, Marvel’s Deadly Hands of Kung Fu mag, & Hong Kong Phooey! Plus Muhammad Ali in toons and toys. Featuring JOHN BYRNE, CHRIS CLAREMONT, STEVE ENGLEHART, PAUL GULACY, LARRY HAMA, DOUG MOENCH, DENNY O’NEIL, JIM STARLIN, & others. Classic EARL NOREM cover!

GOLDEN AGE IN BRONZE! ’70s Justice Society revival with two Pro2Pro interviews: All-Star Squadron’s ROY THOMAS, JERRY ORDWAY, and ARVELL JONES (with a bonus RICK HOBERG interview), and The Spectre’s JOHN OSTRANDER and TOM MANDRAKE. Plus: Liberty Legion, Air Wave, Jonni Thunder, Crimson Avenger, and the Spectre revival of ’87! WOOD, COLAN, CONWAY, GIFFEN, GIORDANO, & more!

ARCHIE COMICS IN THE BRONZE AGE! STAN GOLDBERG and GEORGE GLADIR interviews, Archie knock-offs, Archie on TV, histories of Sabrina, That Wilkin Boy, Cheryl Blossom, and Red Circle Comics. With JACK ABEL, JON D’AGOSTINO, DAN DeCARLO, FRANK DOYLE, GRAY MORROW, DAN PARENT, HENRY SCARPELLI, ALEX SEGURA, LOU SCHEIMER, ALEX TOTH, and more!

DAN DeCARLO cover.

BRONZE AGE AQUAMAN! Team-ups and merchandise, post-Crisis Aquaman, Aqualad: From Titan to Tempest, Black Manta history, DAVID and MAROTO’s Atlantis Chronicles, the original unseen Aquaman #57, and the unproduced Aquaman animated movie. With APARO, CALAFIORE, MARTIN EGELAND, GIFFEN, GIORDANO, ROBERT LOREN FLEMING, CRAIG HAMILTON, JURGENS, SWAN, and more. ERIC SHANOWER cover!

SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE 40th ANNIVERSARY! CARY BATES’ plans for unfilmed Superman V, ELLIOT S. MAGGIN’s Superman novels, 1975 CARMINE INFANTINO interview about the movie, plus interviews: JACK O’HALLORAN (Non), AARON SMOLINSKI (baby Clark), JEFF EAST (young Clark), DIANE SHERRY CASE (teenage Lana Lang), and Superman Movie Contest winner ED FINNERAN. Chris Reeve Superman cover by GARY FRANK!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95 • Ships June 2018

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95 • Ships July 2018

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95 • Ships Aug. 2018

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95 • Ships Sept. 2018

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95 • Ships Nov. 2018

TwoMorrows.

The Future of Comics History.

KIRBY COLLECTOR #74

BRICKJOURNAL #50

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #17

DRAW #35

FUTUREPAST! Kirby’s “World That Was” from Caveman days to the Wild West, and his “World That’s Here” of Jack’s visions of the future that became reality! TWO COVERS: Bullseye inked by BILL WRAY, and Jack’s unseen Tiger 21 concept art!

Plus: interview with ROY THOMAS about Jack, rare Kirby interview, MARK EVANIER moderating the biggest Kirby Tribute Panel of all time, pencil art galleries, and more!

Special double-size BOOK! Photo editor GEOFF GRAY talks to JOE MENO about the beginnings of BrickJournal, TORMOD ASKILDSEN of the LEGO GROUP interview, how LEGO’s fan community has grown in 10 years, and the best builders of the past 50 issues! Plus: Minifigure customizing with JARED K. BURKS’, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd’s DIY Fan Art, & more!

The legacy and influence of WALLACE WOOD, with a comprehensive essay about Woody’s career, extended interview with Wood assistant RALPH REESE (artist for Marvel’s horror comics, National Lampoon, and underground), a long chat with cover artist HILARY BARTA (Marvel inker, Plastic Man and America’s Best artist with ALAN MOORE), plus our usual columns, features, and the humor of HEMBECK!

Fantasy/sci-fi illustrator DONATO GIANCOLA (Game of Thrones) demos his artistic process, GEORGE PRATT (Enemy Ace: War Idyll, Batman: Harvest Breed) discusses his work as comic book artist, illustrator, fine artist, and teacher, Crusty Critic JAMAR NICHOLAS, JERRY ORDWAY’S regular column, and MIKE MANLEY and BRET BLEVINS’ “Comic Art Bootcamp.” Mature Readers Only.

(100-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $5.95 • Ships May 2018

(144-page FULL-COLOR book) $17.95 (Digital Edition) $7.95 • Now shipping!

(100-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $5.95 • Ships Spring 2018

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95 • Ships Summer 2018

TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive Raleigh, NC 27614 USA 919-449-0344 E-mail:

store@twomorrows.com

Order at twomorrows.com

The Crazy Cool Culture We Grew Up With!

All characters TM & © their respe

ctive owners. RetroFan is TM TwoM

orrows Inc.

Remember when Saturday morning television was our domain, and ours alone? When tattoos came from bubble gum packs, Slurpees came in superhero cups, and TV heroes taught us to be nice to each other?

Those were the happy days of the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties—our childhood—and that is the era of TwoMorrows’ newest magazine, covering

#2: Horror-hosts (ZACHERLEY, VAMPIRA, SEYMOUR, MARVIN, and a new ELVIRA interview), GROOVIE GOOLIES, long-buried DINOSAUR LAND amusement park, BEN COOPER HALLOWEEN COSTUMES history, character lunchboxes, superhero VIEW-MASTERS, and more! SHIPS SEPTEMBER 2018!

Sea-Monkeys® — then & now Winter 2018 No. 3 $8.95

NEW! He Made Us Believe A Man Can Fly! EXCLUSIVE Interview with

Visit Metropolis...

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 • (Digital Edition) $4.95 • FIRST ISSUE SHIPS JUNE 2018!

SUBSCRIBE NOW! Four issues: $38 Economy, $63 International, $16 Digital Only

TwoMorrows.

The Future of Pop History.

TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA

Superman and Aquaman TM & © DC Comics.

Sea-Monkeys® © Transcience L.L.C. All

IRWIN ALLEN

Rights Reserved.

Aquaman in Animation

Pillsbury’s Funny Face Collectibles

and Seventies! ic Fanzines of the Sixties Fanboys’ Fantast the Oddball World of Scott Shaw!

• Andy Mangels • Ernest Farino • and Featuring Martin Pasko

#3: SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE Director RICHARD DONNER interview, IRWIN ALLEN’s sci-fi universe, Saturday morning’s undersea adventures of AQUAMAN, ’60s and ’70s horror/sci-fi zines, Spider-Man and Hulk toilet paper, RetroTravel to METROPOLIS, IL’s Superman Celebration, SEA-MONKEYS®, FUNNY FACE beverages & collectibles, a fortress of Superman and Batman memorabilia, and more! SHIPS DECEMBER 2018!

Phone: 919-449-0344 E-mail: store@twomorrows.com Web: www.twomorrows.com

PRINTED IN CHINA

RETROFAN #1 cover-features an all-new interview with TV’s Incredible Hulk, LOU FERRIGNO, and introduces a quartet of columns by our regular celebrity columnists: MARTIN PASKO’s Pesky Perspective (this issue: The Phantom in Hollywood), ANDY MANGELS’ Retro Saturday Mornings (Filmation’s Star Trek cartoon), ERNEST FARINO’s Retro Fantasmagoria (How I Met the Wolf Man—Lon Chaney, Jr.), and The Oddball World of SCOTT SHAW (the goofy comic book Zody the Mod Rob). Also: Mego’s rare Elastic Hulk toy; RetroTravel to Mount Airy, NC, the real-life Mayberry; an interview with BETTY LYNN, “Thelma Lou” of The Andy Griffith Show; the scarcity of Andy Griffith Show collectibles; a trip inside TOM STEWART’s eclectic House of Collectibles; RetroFan’s Too Much TV Quiz; and a RetroFad shout-out to Mr. Microphone. Edited by Back Issue magazine’s MICHAEL EURY!

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