The Good

Every once in a while, DC surprises us with a new series we weren't expecting. Often, Dan DiDio is involved. INFINITY MAN AND THE FOREVER PEOPLE is not your typical New 52 title. Despite being in the third year of the New 52 relaunches, this is still the time to bring back or reimagine characters, especially ones that have long been absent.

This comic opens up on New Genesis. Right away, that should grab your attention. We haven't seen too much of New Genesis or the New Gods in the New 52. Because of that, this series has my immediate attention. The big question is what will the New Gods be like?

Keith Giffen and DiDio make this an easy comic to jump into. What it comes down to is, new readers don't need to really know anything about who these characters are. As the story unfolds, we're slowly introduced to the main players. Through very minimal interactions, we get a good idea of who everyone is, who they will be, and how they will interact with each other. A title with a team of characters needs this sort of interaction and conflict. We get a good sense of the difference in personalities and can see how this will spice things up in future issues.

Giffen does a great job capturing the Kirby feel in his art. Readers familiar with the characters and concepts will have certain expectations. You can see the potential in this series for plenty of fun and action.

The Bad

It's only the first issue but there is a pretty separate feel from the rest of the New 52 universe. If a New God was residing on Earth, is this something that would go unnoticed? Obviously there's still questions that will be answered but this almost feels separate from the other New 52 titles. That's not necessarily a completely bad thing as we're able to focus just on these characters.

When we see the 'new' characters appear, we don't really know who they all are right away. It's about half way through the issue we get all the characters' names and a brief description of them. New readers may have difficulty getting into a book with characters they're not immediately familiar with. This isn't to say we need Batman guest starring to introduce readers to these classic characters but there could be a struggle to gain the attention of some of today's fickle readers.

The Verdict

INFINITY MAN AND THE FOREVER PEOPLE isn't a comic I was expecting to see but it is one I'm thankful to see. DC has some great characters at their disposal and it's a joy to see some classic Jack Kirby characters and concept step into the New 52 spotlight. Keith Giffen and Dan DiDio are clearly the ones to handle this task. You can see in the story and art their appreciation and respect for the characters as well as some new ideas that are bubbling under the surface. The tricky part will be getting new readers unfamiliar with the characters to check this book out. Don't miss out on this. If you do, you'll regret it later.

Giffen is the perfect choice for the art. OMAC was meh so I don't have high hopes for this. But I hope this title lasts more than 6 issues

I don't wanna seem like a Negative Ned, but I give this 20 issues tops before it gets cancelled. Not cause it's bad, but cause it has relatively unknown characters, and as we've seen before in New 52, unknowns don't last long.

Even if it doesn't last long at least it will expand the pool of stories for the FP. One good thing new 52 had at its beginning was the diversity of titles, its nice to see that DC hasn't given up on it.

Yeah, but if it's cancelled, chances are we won't hear or see the characters again in a while, I mean, where's the Demon Knights now? Or Andrew Bennet? Or Voodoo? Or the Wildstorm characters? I'll read it, cause above all, good stories are what's important, but it does make me a bit sad knowing if (or when) it's cancelled, the characters float in limbo. Though, Grifter being in Future's End was a sight for sore eyes.

I really enjoyed this issue! Giffen's art was fantastic, and the story was simply fun. I'm not sure I agree with the negatives, but not everyone is going to agree on everything. Pretty fair review and score.

I don't think DC is believing this title that features unknown characters,without much hype behind it and not any particular advertising will succeed, I think from the interviews I saw this was just Didio's pet project (like OMAC before). Demon Knights lasted very long and I think they will return in JLD.

Thankfully the Wildstorm characters are in Futures End.

I give it 12 :(

Wasn't feeling this.. Which sucks because I was really looking forward to it.

This was a stellar first issue. The art was gorgeous and the plotting very solid. This is definitely going on my pull list!

If Didio is writing this I'm sure it will be awful. Giffen's art looks awesome though.

Giffen is co-writing...probably doing most of the heavy lifting of the book.

BB

And even before that with the Phantom Stranger, Didio gave up with issue 6.

i passed on this book. i just wasn't feeling it for some reason. now, if they were selling a digital copy for 99 cent? i probably would've taken a shot.

Ah. Interesting. I may just give it a try.

Argh! I forgot to pick this one up for some reason

@the_stegman: Andrew Bennett was recently in Batgirl and is joining JLD, Vandal Savage appeared in Pandora, Swamp Thing and will in All-Star Western and Etrigan recently appeared in Teen Titans.

Mmhmm, though that was with DeMatteis.

BB

He first wrote three issues, then co-wrote with DeMatteis five and after that he gave DeMatteis the book.

@squalleon:

Yes, yes, I know.

BB

I'm a huge fan of these characters as they appeared in Kirby's original. I didn't have huge expectations for this, though I was very hopeful. I enjoyed this issue quite a bit, though! I love that they're trying to keep the tone and concept like the original, but I do welcome the bit of tweaking and reimagining they're doing.

4.5/5 for me :)

"Kirby is my communal reconstruction bio engine. He's responsible for building and maintaining this environment. Without him, none of this would have been possible."

............see what ya did there.

I can't stand the art. It's so bad I might drop it because of it. I get why they are doing it because it more like the what it use to be but bad is still bad. Also with this being the new 52 they should have tried for something different. They should have also got the guy who's been redesigning the Earth 2 New gods to redesign it here. The art is like O.M.A.C. which is one of the reasons I dropped that book also.

EDIT: This feels like too much homage to Kirby it strangles any improvements, not evolving to a more updated version and I see this going the way of O.M.A.C. because of it.

This was an enjoyable issue. I can't wait to see more of the New 52 New Gods.

This title reminds me of something Dan Jurgens said not too long ago. It was something along the lines of how readers SAY they want something new but the sales don't represent that (Such as Batman and Superman titles dominating). I will definitely pick this title up simply because it's something different and deserves a fair shot

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww man i gotta read this then. If it is good after 4 issues i may have to buy it full time (sigh my poor wallet).

I should have preferred Tom Scioli because of his work on Godland. My girlfriend told me every single character looks like they're pooping in every panel.

I've been a big fan of the New Gods, so characters that are so completely unlike their previous incarnations is a bit jarring. At least one of them should have still been a cosmic hippie. I'm interested to see more though, and Giffen's art is always fun.

I liked this one. Hope it makes it.

The Fourth World is a part of the DC Universe I'm not particularly familiar with, but I picked up this issue anyways, and it seems pretty interesting so far, I hope it keeps up the quality.

Good stuff.