Ok, in the New 52 there appears to be a new take on darkseid. He appears to have been elevated from a Superman level threat and a sometime Justice League level threat to a cosmic level threat. It is heavily implied that there is only one darkseid in the multiverse. The darkseid villains issue implied he has killed/converted multiple supermans from multiple earths in the multiverse.

We do know for sure that at least one superman, Earth 2 was brainwashed/broken into becoming darkseids servant and herald. His heatvision was also somehow mixed/enhanced with the omega effect.

I am liking this take on the character. Darkseid should IMO be physically more than a match for the man of steel, even if the man of steel cuts fully loose. Superman should not be able to go toe to toe with Darkseid all by himself. Furthermore Darkseid should have super speed to counter superman speedblitzing him, and be invulnerable to counter heatvision through his brain.

What are your thoughts on this matter?

@andhaira: I agree with most of your points on his power levels, but Darkseid's motivation is more muddled than ever. Is there an anti-life equation? Does he want it? Is he just another potential conqueror. I'm not saying that these won't be answered or resolved, but he's still not as good as the Kirby Darkseid.

I still liked it when he was Superman's and JL's villain.

Though in the first cover of SM/WW he was put on Superman's side of the cover, implying that he is still a part of his universe?

I agree with you @andhaira. Just reading Justice League #23.1 its clear that he should be much more powerful than superman as was exhibited in the movie Justice League : War. I like the idea, that the bad guy could win and sometimes does for a period. If you read a book and know without any doubt the good guy will win, it is kind of boring.

@andhaira: agreed, however i would like to point out that even before the reboot, there was only one Darkseid in the multiverse.

i do have a question, instead of attacking millions of other worlds around the universes, why is Darkseid concentrating on the various earths? is it because Kaiyo leads him there? i hope it is explained properly later...

@mrmiracle said:

I can't remember where it was off the top of my head, but I think in either Justice League or in Justice League of America, they mentioned that he was after the Anti-Life Equation. And I think that they showed that his daughter was on Earth in JLA: Vibe #1. I have a feeling he's going to be fleshed out post-Forever Evil. Seemed odd they set that up and then didn't bring it back up, especially with his (I'm assuming this as we aren't done yet, anyways) lack of a presence with the Forever Evil crowd.

@captaintightpants12: Hopefully they will flesh him out because I prefer Darkseid to be a talker. The villain's month Darkseid issue seems to be pretty decent. The whole daughter thing is another source of muddling for me. Is Kaiyo his daughter? Is she in that vault in JLA Vibe? Does Amanda Waller know what she's talking about? What's the deal with Darkseid and Orion? I assume many of the same relationships remain intact, but I don't know. It's just so frustrating. Though that's kind of been my reaction througout the new 52. Everything you Know is Wrong.

They are doing some different and interesting things. I assume DC editorial has a grand plan for all this, and I look forward to seeing what they do, but I would love a New Gods title in the lineup.