Darkseid and Kirby's Fourth World are back!
With villain's month now underway, Greg Pak and co. tackle Darkseid and, one of my most favourite areas of comics, Jack Kirby's Fourth World. Please note that, as with all reviews, there may (or may not) be spoilers below.
Origins Revisited with Disappointing Delivery
To sum up this issue, the first half deals with the origins of Darkseid, and briefly the origins of Highfather, the Old Gods and the New Gods. Whilst I have often complained at the lack of recognition and attention that Jack Kirby's Fourth World has received over the years (as it has produced some of the finest writing in comics), I was left rather disappointed with how the origins were re-imagined by Pak.
Understandably, characters go through re-imagining to help the audience digest their origins, but the eloquence of Kirby's work (also kept by other writers such as John Bryne and Walter Simonson) has somehow been lost.
A New Character?
The rest of the issue deals with Darkseid's daughter (not a spoiler for those who didn't pay attention in JL issues 1-6), and her life of mischief as the daughter of a tyrant - which, in some respects, has something almost poetic about it. But then again, this introduction is a cause of concern for me, as I have long been a fan of the trading of sons between Darkseid and Izaya.
While this plot doesn't, by any means, necessarily negate that moment in comics, it does indicate that further origins of some of my favourite characters are being revamped. I also find it odd how neither Scott Free nor Orion were mentioned at all, as they are the children of the pact, and Orion is currently starring alongside Wonder Woman.
Art
The art by Siqueira and Diaz is pretty good, and some of the characters look as God-like as a fan such as myself would hope for...but I wasn't a fan of the ink-job by Hifi, as the colouring was not too impressive.
Overall
It is a good story to get new readers interested in the Fourth World, but for veterans of New Genesis and Apokolips, such as myself, the issue is a bit of a let down, and we'd be able to recommend better introductions on request.
3/5
