Newer Gods 3: Less night falls on ugly new outfits
Newer Gods is a monthly feature where I take a look back at the history of DC Comics’ New Gods from the era after original creator Jack Kirby. It’s a study of creators as they take a look back at work of the King of Comics and re-create it.
Plotter Gerry Conway, scripter Denny O'Neil and artist Mike Vosburg waste no time on the opening of 1st Issue Special #13, the final issue of that series and the "Return of the New Gods!" (It says so right on the cover.)
This will be Lightray’s only appearance. All images copyright DC Comics. Art by Dick Giordano.
The book opens with Orion. He supports a new costume here (as seen on the cover) and it's a bit of a mess. It's far too superhero oriented for a space god, but it does little to change the character we know. He's still angry and violent. He immediately takes out his anger on a bunch of guards.
The first fun tidbit of this story comes on page two as Kalibak's death at the end of Kirby's New Gods is immediately retconned. He shows up here as the opening villain with only a claim that "the Black Racer did not take me then and he will not take me now!"
Kalibak's fashion sense has also left him as he's wearing little more than a leotard as he and Orion do battle. Their fight has all the dynamic action Mike Vosburg could create, but with dialogue stilted even by 70s DC standards.
A quick flashback shows Orion, Scott Free, Big Barda, Metron and Highfather come under attack on New Genesis from re-designed Parademons, a brief explanation for why Orion is now back on Earth.
Back in the present, Orion and Kalibak fight to a stalemate before Orion blasts the floor to rid himself of his half-brother. He continues deeper into the facility to confront Darkseid. Instead he fights Granny Goodness. Lady Lou Grant waylays Orion with a quickness.
On New Genesis, Metron and Highfather use the Mobius Chair to spy on Apokolips, where Darkseid and Doctor Bedlam talk. Darkseid reveals that he's keyed his own heartbeat to Earth's sun. Should he die, the star would die with him. They realize that Orion is on a one way collision with his father, one that will end in more death than they ever imagined.
Orion breaks free after he awakes. He finds he's also on Apokolips. He levels the guards and again confronts Kalibak. He makes short work of Kalibak and confronts Darkseid. Darkseid warns him of his new nature, but Orion is hearing none of it, committed only to killing his father. But before he can, Highfather and Metron arrive to stop him and whisk him back to New Genesis.
The story ends on an odd note, back with the New Gods back in the same status quo they had been left in before. It feels here like this was never meant to re-debut the characters as much as it was to get them back into the public consciousness post-Kirby. It feels very strange as a plan to relaunch the book, but no issue of 1st Issue Special was truly written like it was a first issue of an ongoing. It existed to debut an idea and see if the fans liked it enough to keep it going. The book clearly never found tons of success, as this would be its final appearance. But sales clearly were enough to convince DC a return of these characters would be in the cards. Yet fans would have to wait another year...
...and we will have to wait until the next exciting installment of Newer Gods! See you then!
