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Post by mrbrklyn on Nov 17, 2018 11:11:38 GMT -5
It's a funny thing that even though Steve Englehart didn't think much of Kirby's writing in general, including the New Gods stuff, he still came up with one of the very few runs of interest on any of those characters. Englehart would probably hate what I'm about to say, but I see this as a case of a gifted creator's talent being smarter than his conscious brain. Not that I discount the conscious work he put into making those two or three issues of Mister Miracle as good as he could make them - but somehow or other, even though they read very much as Steve Englehart stories and even though he didn't rate the original very highly, they feel more in tune with the spirit of Kirby's ideas than pretty much anything else I can think of, apart from a few exceptions (Gerber's follow-up on MM, Simonson's Orion, and ... that might be it). I doon't know. I was not a fan of Conway and thing that the editors of DC underestimated just how good a foundation Spider-Man was for Marvel. It was hard to screw up Spider-Man.. with the Marvel editor board looking over your shoulder. |
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Post by mrbrklyn on Nov 17, 2018 11:15:28 GMT -5
And there's some evidence that DC put out Return of the New Gods to force Marvel to rename Kirby's new Marvel creation, The Eternals, which was originally intended to be Return of the Gods. And yet, here we are with Dr Doom making a feature appearance now in Terrifics... The Comics business can be amazing. |
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Post by berkley on Nov 19, 2018 9:58:28 GMT -5
It's a funny thing that even though Steve Englehart didn't think much of Kirby's writing in general, including the New Gods stuff, he still came up with one of the very few runs of interest on any of those characters. Englehart would probably hate what I'm about to say, but I see this as a case of a gifted creator's talent being smarter than his conscious brain. Not that I discount the conscious work he put into making those two or three issues of Mister Miracle as good as he could make them - but somehow or other, even though they read very much as Steve Englehart stories and even though he didn't rate the original very highly, they feel more in tune with the spirit of Kirby's ideas than pretty much anything else I can think of, apart from a few exceptions (Gerber's follow-up on MM, Simonson's Orion, and ... that might be it). I doon't know. I was not a fan of Conway and thing that the editors of DC underestimated just how good a foundation Spider-Man was for Marvel. It was hard to screw up Spider-Man.. with the Marvel editor board looking over your shoulder. Oh, I'm not expecting much from Conway's writing other than the usual tried and true superhero story devices. It's just out of curiosity, as it's one of the few New Gods series I haven't read from around that time. I've more or less given up on the new stuff, apart from checking out reviews or previews just to make sure I'm not missing anything worthwhile.
I do like Don Newton's artwork, so at least it should be nice to look at - though even there, they redesigned Orion's costume to make it more conventional, replacing the trademark helmet with a superhero style mask. |
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Post by mikelmidnight on Nov 19, 2018 12:43:09 GMT -5
I read Conway's NG when they came out. They're not exactly bad, and (although they were retconned out) could have been included in the Kirby canon without doing any harm to it, but there's nothing special about them.
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 19, 2018 13:10:08 GMT -5
There are some ideas, at the beginning; but, they peter out pretty quickly. Conway kind of goes through the motions until the JLA/JSA/New Gods crossover. Then he finally comes up with something epic. Conway just never struck me as a strong "cosmic" kind of writer. He could do the Marvel formula; but, was best with an already well developed character.
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Post by mrbrklyn on Nov 19, 2018 21:13:19 GMT -5
I think the Stanton New Gods Superman special was much better.... and somehow I never finsihed it....
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Post by rberman on Jun 14, 2019 11:18:11 GMT -5
When I started my own Fourth World thread recently, I saw that this thread existed covering post-Kirby Fourth World material, but I didn't realize that it went back to review Kirby's work as well. I will cross-reference the relevant posts in this thread, in the index at the top of my thread. Sorry to duplicate material! |
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Post by dabellwrites on Aug 16, 2021 0:26:52 GMT -5
OMAC #7  OMAC has been dispatched to investigate the disappearance of all of the water from a large lake. He finds the area completey dry and the marine life devastated.  He goes investigating and finds a bar, that is incredibly heavy. He gets a power boost from Brother Eye, but can still barely lift the bar. He collapses and is buried under rubble. We move to a new water body and see a flying craft that drops another bar...  The bar compacts the water and swallows it up, then the craft lifts it out and takes it away. It is a scheme implemented by Dr Skuba, who is stealing all of the Earth's water, to then extort its return. OMAC is found by the GPA, who treat him, then brief him of Skuba's scheme. He flies off to intercept him when his craft breaks up over a volcanic island, as Skuba watches.  Skuba recognizes that OMAC is powered by unstable atoms and determines that his machine can alter OMAC's form, returning it to its original shape. He hits him with a blast and we end with Buddy Blank, stranded on a rock tower. Skuba feels more than a bit like Dr Sivana, especially with his daughter and her handsome boyfriend Apollo (like Beautia and Manficus Sivana). He's pretty insidious and OMAC ends up in real peril. Really good issue. The plot does feel a bit like something out of the first season of the Super Friends, minus a misguided antagonist and substituting an actual evil one. Skuba's craft looks rather like an agricultural sprayer, on steroids..  So, one more issue, with a rather abrupt ending. Stay tuned!
Yooo! I actually own OMAC #7. I purchased it from a thrift store I go to when I want to buy comics (I try to find non-Marvel and DC). Anyways, I didn't know Jack Kirby was the writer, I knew of Kirby work and I admire his sheer creative force. So, I originally laughed at the premise of the story. The art was funky to me, I was used to seeing Kirby's more epic stuff like New Gods and such. The connection, it didn't click at the time. I think it's time for me to revisit the issue.
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Post by dabellwrites on Aug 16, 2021 1:02:50 GMT -5
Well, I was hoping for DC's handling of the modern New Gods post-crisis, but this has been a fun thread regardless. It just shows much much of a powerhouse Kirby was back then. DC continues to mine his creations despite never giving the man his credit when he was publishing them. Kirby is a creator whose legacy will be unmatched in comic books.
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Post by profh0011 on Aug 16, 2021 23:43:49 GMT -5
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