New Gods by Jack Kirby

An cosmic epic of storytelling all from the Auteur vision Jack Kirby.

Kirby's brilliant imagination built a world that helps sell the idea that superheroes are they great modern myths as the forces of New Genesis and Apokalypse clash on the streets of Earth. And like the myths old normal humans become dragged into the conflict criminals armed with advanced weaponry, the police actively involved in this conflict that has landed on their streets, to Orion's four helpers. Sadly the book was cancelled and Kirby obviously had some long term plans for his Fourth World saga that he never really got the chance to flesh out though the graphic novel Hunger dogs provides an ending its obviously not the one he had originally intended.

This volume has more ideas, excitement and sheer joy on a single page than entire runs of modern DC and Marvel comics. It’s the sort of book that even having read it several times every so often you’ll walk past your bookcase, flip through it and it’ll brighten up your day. There is a famous self-portrait of Kirby with Marvel characters jumping off the page around him. This is much the same. You open it up and you don’t so much jump into the story, as the story jumps out at you.

A classic storyline from one of American comics best creative writer and artist.

Loved this a lot. Amazing Kirby artwork. A great addition to my collection. Highly recommended :)

I like Jack Kirby.

It's Kirby unleashed, what more do you need to know. I was about 13 when this hit the stands in the UK and from then on I only bought comics not created by this genius after I made sure I had money to buy New Gods, Mister Miracle, Forever People and Jimmy Olsen. There was something just so exciting about them all, but New Gods was my favourite of the four. I particularily like how Kirby involved mortals in the cosmic goings on. And then it was over, apart from Mister Miracle which was never the same. This is Kirby's Kubla Khan, Carmine Infantano the person from Porlock? The whole thing magnificent in conception but never finished. I know we had the Hunger Dogs but it wasn't the same. What we have I treasure but what might have been is sorely missed.

An interesting read but suffers from much pre-1990s comic storytelling - IE too much plot exposition shoehorned in, one dimensional characters and attempts to be cool. Plus the greatest negative is as these are gods and 'no one stays dead in comics apart from Uncle Ben', there's no real drama - whole tower blocks explode and no-one gets more than a scratch. That said, the artwork is super.

Kirby was very underappreciated when he worked on this, but it flows nicely and dynamically, proving Jack is the King.

My second buy of the collected Jack Kirby comics.. amazing art with typical basic stories, typical of the time. Must buy just to be dazzled by the two page art pieces..

Even if you've barely read comics, there's a good chance you've heard of Jack Kirby. I've been reading DC comics for years, but I somehow never managed to go back and read this run of New Gods. Boy am I glad I did. This is an epic story that's truly imaginative in the purest sense of the word. There are twists and turns in the plot, and fascinating details and history of the worlds of New Genesis and Apokolips, but the real impressive work is in the characters and their relationships with one another--these mythical figures from advanced civilizations that are instantly familiar but unique enough to hold your interest. One big caveat for newer readers though. It seems obvious, but because this was written in the 70s~ the storytelling is very...of the time. So that means a lot of silliness that might be a little self aware but is still played pretty seriously. Smoke capsules in car tailpipes. Goofy human characters as reader surrogates who say things like, "But I'm Victor Lanza! An insurance executive! A family man! My wife makes me carry an umbrella in case it rains!" Even the main character, Orion, is supposed to be a conflicted, brooding hero trying to overcome his violent nature, but I kept cracking up at how over-the-top and brutish he was (yes, I understand some of that is purposeful, but boy is it extreme), to the point where most characters, even his friends, are like "Wow, you're really brutal and kind of a d*ck, maybe take it easy?" But that's all part and parcel with the kind of comic and story this is, and you just have to go along with the ride. This whole undertaking is truly a feat when you consider it all came from the mind of one man. If you're a DC comics reader, or even just a little bit curious, I really recommend reading this at least once. There's not a lot else out there that's quite like it. And on that note, I leave you with an image of a couple of awkward panels that had me laughing out loud for a good minute.* *P.S., I've read a lot of later stories like Final Crisis, Mister Miracle etc., and I always kind of thought to myself, wow some of these New Gods are real jerks! Now that I've finally read the original story, I can confirm that they were all at least a little bit jerkish from the get-go(particularly Metron)! But that doesn't make them, or their worlds, any less fascinating.

Capolavoro fumettistico di Kirby... Arrivato in tempo e in condizioni perfette

Für Fans des Zeichners