The Illinois Air National Guard flew F-4 Phantoms for years, and used to fly over my little town, going to and from Springfield.  We got the occasional sonic boom, as well.  The most awesome sight, though, was one summer, when I was at camp, in southern Illinois.  We were playing baseball when a Phantom flew over, so low that we could read the registration numbers on the side of the plane.  Those things were flying monsters, especially if you saw one loaded with ordinance (only saw in pictures, though).

I remember two F-4 models I built as a kid... That was one of my two favourite aircrafts of the time. (The other being the F-104, which was used in Canada).

When I saw one in a museum, I was indeed struck by how big it was.

I knew zero about the Fourth World and had the 1st Issue Special and both of these issues.

Completely lost and crazy.

I remember ordering Mr Miracle from the Koch Brothers as back issues cause, a wild tech-y escape artist guy with Marshall Rogers and Michael Golden ? Sold !

Then I got the Baxter reprints and graphic novel.

Darkseid showed up in the Legion but I didn't catch on until the big reveal.

I love the New Gods and think it would be such a great movie.

Loving the thread

As for the 4th World, take Kirby's Thor and then bring true Ragnarok. Asgard is split into two worlds, New Genesis and Apokolips. On New Genesis grows Izaya, on Apokolips, Darkseid. War erupts between the two worlds, with Darkseid bringing destruction. Izaya becomes a warrior and great devastation is brought against both worlds. Finally, the two negotiate a peace, The Pact, where they exchange sons as hostages. Darkseid's son, Orion, a wild animal, lives on New Genesis, where Izaya, the newly christened Highfather, tempers his anger and violence and teaches him about the virtues of peace and love, making him an instrument against Darkseid. Highfather's son grows up in Granny Goodness' hellish orphanage, where he is named Scott Free, as an insult. He is a docile infant, but learns to fight. However, he rebels against Granny and her teachings and struggles for freedom. With the aid of Himon, a scientist who creates the Mother Box, the sentient computer, he escapes Apokolips, fleeing to Earth. His love, Big Barda is sent after him, along with her squad of Female Furies, soldiers of Granny and darkseid. She rebels, for love, as Scott teaches her there is more than Granny and Darkseid. Even the Furies rebel. It turns out that Highfather had planned this, to turn Darkseid's son against him and to hone his own son into a weapon to defeat Darkseid's evil. Their battle spills over to Earth, which holds the secret to the Anti-Life Equation, a prize sought by Darkseid. in essence, it is total mental domination over all sentient minds, binding them to his will. Life is freedom, Anti-Life is slavery. The battle rages, with the foretold ending that Orion will battle Darkseid to the death, in the firepits of Apokolips.

Funny thing is, the closest to a movie is Masters of the Universe. The director was a huge Kirby fan and mixed elements of the 4th World and Dr Doom (and some Thor). he-Man is Orion, Skeletor is Darkseid, the Sorceress is Highfather. Evil-Lynn is a bit of the Female Furies, a bit of Desaad, a bit of Granny. Beast Man is Kalibak. Gwildore is a bit of oberon and a bit of Himon, Teela is Barda and Lightray, while Man at Arms is also a bit of Lightray (those roles don't exactly equate). the scene of Skeletor's machines parading up the street, after emerging from a dimensional portal, is pure Kirby.

Agreed, even though Golden (with Heath inks, IIRC) is a totally different animal than Rogers.

It wasn't mentioned that, in the first MM issue, Rogers had different people ink each character throughout the story: Rogers did MM, I think Barda was by Giordano, Oberon by Alan Weiss... all Continuity Studios people.

Also, I'm a big fan of Newton, and he did his usual good job on New Gods, but he wasn't a good fit for the book. It needed someone who drew people "larger than life," like Kirby or Simonson.

While I agree that Simonson is a better fit, I do think, looking at the two issues so far, Newton's ability with expression has given the series a perspective from the ordinary eye, rather than the gods. His people genuinely react the the people they are seeing and the events that occur. It's not Kirby's epic; but, like Marvel's and Astro City, it allows us to look at this sort of thing from a different point of view. Looking at his background detail, I do think he captures bigger than life and does so in the fighting; but, with more subtlety. Maybe subtlety isn't the best route, when dealing with Kirby's epic creations; but, it is an interesting one. For me, anyway...

I sometimes find it hard to say who would be a good artist for a New Gods series until I see it on the page. Some are obvious - Walt Simonson, for example, and perhaps the Kirbyesque Keith Giffen of the 70s & 80s.

But I wouldn't have guessed Marshall Rogers's style would be so perfect for it without having seen his Mister Miracle - though I do agree that his version of Barda was never quite right, and that's a big flaw, since she's such an important element in the whole MM scheme of things and such a great character in her own right.

And I never would have thought of Michael Golden and Russ Heath - though in this case it isn't so much a matter of them being particularly suited to the material as of me liking that team's work so much I would have enjoyed it no matter what book they were on.