Every once in a while DC surprises us with a new title. Dan DiDio and Keith Giffen are bringing more of Jack Kirby's Fourth World and New Gods characters to the New 52. This opens the door for us to see different characters in the New 52 and now is the perfect time to re-introduce these characters today's readers might not be familiar with.
INFINITY MAN AND THE FOREVER PEOPLE #1 is now on sale. You can check out our review HERE. We had the chance to talk to Dan about the title and how this title came to be.
COMIC VINE: This is an odd, but great choice for a new series. Who all can we thank for bringing these characters back?
DAN DIDIO: Keith and I are both kindred spirits in the sense that we love the obscure. We’re always looking for the one thing that nobody else wants to work on. One of the fun things about it is trying to be true to what the heart and the sensibility of the original stories were, while still trying to find ways to give it some contemporary spin and a voice under its own that can really play with today’s audience.
CV: What’s going to be the focus of these characters in the New 52?
DD: It’s interesting because what we’re trying to do and what you’re going to see, hopefully we’re establishing it properly, is the fact that these characters consider themselves gods, they basically exist across all planes of existence, and the fact that they seem to know everything but they know very little about Earth. At the start, you think it’s just that they’re not aware of it but you’re going to find out it was really a concerted effort to keep information about Earth away from the various members of the New Genesis community, for several reasons that will be revealed during the course of the story. These people are here but they weren’t supposed to make it here. Now that they are, they’re going to try to affect change, they’re going to try to make a difference because that’s why they joined in on this mission in the first place. Through Big Bear, they’re going to be learning about the planet and they’re going to be learning about themselves. Also, during the course of this, in their attempts to help change humanity, they find they actually create greater and more dire situations because of their lack of understanding of the situations they’re in. So there’s a level of growth that comes along with this and the fact that even gods can learn, is one of the key take aways you can see in the story.
CV: What do readers new to the characters need to know about this series?
DD: Hopefully nothing! My goal, right from the get-go, even from the opening commencement speech that High Father gave at the school, was really to set up what the basic premise is behind New Genesis and to introduce the characters slowly enough so they’re able to pick up this comic cold and be able to enjoy it straight out without any preconceived knowledge of the earlier series or what else is going on in the DC Universe.
CV: How was it decided which characters would get tiny updates from the original? Like Serifan was a male character before…
DD: Yeah, Serafin used to be a male character in the series and we wanted to introduce Serafina to bring more diversity to the cast but also, she’s really the star of the book, in her own way. She’s the fresh set of eyes. She’s the optimist. She’s the go-getter. She’s the one who’s most driven to make change and to make a difference. In some ways, she’s inspiring the rest of the cast to care more and to be more involved in what they’re doing. Everybody else is there for other reasons other than trying to help.
CV: Will other New 52 characters become aware New Gods are now on Earth?
DD: It’s an interesting question because the New Gods are appearing slowly throughout the New 52. You’ve seen Orion’s appearance in WONDER WOMAN. You’ve seen in EARTH 2, members of Apokolips appearing there. Naturally we’ve seen Darkseid in JUSTICE LEAGUE. And we have more appearances, from what I understand, from me, that’s taking place, as the writer. I have to speak as the writer, according to PR. As the writer, I’ve heard there’s a meeting taking place in the DCU where we will see some major appearances from the New Gods, over the course of the next several months.
CV: Will the Forever People stay on Earth or head back to New Genesis or other worlds?
DD: I actually like them on Earth because there’s that fish out of water story. There’s so much to be mined here in regards to what they’re trying to learn and the reason why they’re on Earth. We have some great characters in this and there’s a lot of twists and turns and secrets each one of them has that will be revealed slowly during the course of the story. It will ultimately put them in conflict with each other but also pull them even tighter together.
CV: Can we expect other Fourth World characters and concepts?
DD: Always! It’s one of the richest mines we can go into. Ultimately there’s so many great ideas and concepts from the days Kirby was doing the FOURTH WORLD series. Between Keith and myself, we’re always looking at what we can tap into and what we can take advantage of. The fun part for us, which I haven’t even mentioned, is the Infinity Man. He doesn’t appear in the first issue but he is naturally the pivot point and the character which all the stories are built around, even if you see him very little in the series. The fact that his name is in the title is also to show the importance he has over the whole over-arcing series.
CV: Why do you think the Forever People weren’t used that often over the years?
DD: I think they had a quirky sensibility and they played outside of the grandeur of what the New Gods storyline was in the past. With the New Gods, you always saw that epic nature of the pact between High Father and Darkseid and the battle for the people right underneath them. From everything from Orion to Kalibak to Mister Miracle. FOREVER PEOPLE had this quirky little offshoot sensibility to it which I always found so intriguing, I can’t help it. I always gravitated more towards the Forever People than I did to the New Gods. Although, I did love Mister Miracle, I have to admit.
CV: Is there a quota of how much Kirby Krackle needs to be in each issue?
DD: No, I think that’s purely at Keith’s discretion. Let’s put it another way, you can never have too much Kirby Krackle.
INFINITY MAN AND THE FOREVER PEOPLE #1 is now on sale!
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