Okay, one of the big topics this week seems to be “the Death of the New Gods”. Naturally, almost everyone seems to have something to say about it.
The Occasional Superheroine asserts that it’s hard to dislike the series:
Why? Because it’s Jim Starlin. DC really dodged the bullet on this whole miniseries by getting Starlin to write and draw it. Because it’s like if you put Marv Wolfman & George Perez on Countdown — yeah, it’s another editorially-mandated clusterf**k but how can you dislike it when you’ve got such legendary creators on it? It would be like hating Stan Lee. Which is like hating Comics. There’s some math in there.
If you’re familiar with Starlin’s work with characters like Captain Marvel or Warlock at all, you understand that this guy’s a master of the Cosmic Story — probably right behind Kirby in that regard. So if you get bogged down or confused by metaphysical/galactic sentences like:
“They’d actually taken the Source’s cryptic meanderings and sculpted them into the foundation of a ridiculous little religious fantasy,”
rest assured that it all has some higher spiritual purpose and that God will probably make an appearance in the third act, even if He is in the form of a section of drywall or a Nerf ball with Kirby crackle emanating from it.
Paul S., or Goggle_Kid, is annoyed by the execution:
That said I am supremely displeased with the death of Big Barda. I’m not against the concept of killing off Big Barda in a book titled “The Death of the New Gods,” but good lord could the execution have been any worse? This is quite possibly the least fitting most crap-tastic superhero death scene since poor Steph Brown’ General-hospital esc deathbed scene in Batman: War Games. I mean for god’s sake… she was shot in the chest while putting away groceries. That kind of death scene might have been fitting for a character like Linda Park West or Lana Lang, but Barda sure as hell deserved better than such a stereotypical Superhero wife/girlfriend death.
For starters killing off Barda this early in the game is a patently stupid move as well, Barda is the Jack Kirby Fourth World character for people who don’t care about Jack Kirby’s Fourth World. She is arguably the most popular forth world character, and the most recognizable to younger readers due to her appearances in Birds of Prey and Grant Morrison’s JLA run. People who don’t care the slightest about more obscure Fourth World characters like Mark Moonrider or Metron probably picked this up because they were expecting to see Barda go out in some big cosmic battle scene, not in something that plays like a deleted subplot from Identity Crisis.
Sleestak explains why he’s not upset:
Would I like Barda and pals to remain static and never change? Sure I would. I love them as they are. But even in the current creative climate of fast and loose continuity all characters must evolve or at least have the illusion of growth. There are some amazingly bad and goofy concepts in there and many characters, like Desaad, are criminally misused and weakly portrayed at best. A re-imagining is probably the best way to go about making the Fourth World characters a bit more interesting and contemporary.
So I figure that what is being torn out of the New Gods isn’t so much as their hearts, but the “God Essence” that makes them what they are. The body is merely a shell that is unimportant and can be left behind. Of course, knowing Starlin, the divine spark that is being forcibly recalled from the gods is probably being used as fuel for some ultimate weapon of destruction by a villain or anti-hero. In the end I suspect that all the captured souls will be reformed into an all new pantheon of Gods for DC to play with.
While our own Lisa Fortuner explains why probable impermanence isn’t a comfort:
Maybe its because I’ve seen enough cool female characters killed off then not resurrected as planned (Arisia) or resurrected only to have the death remain in continuity while the resurrection is forgotten (Katma Tui) already that this bugs me. That its a first-issue death that might be undone soon doesn’t really soften this blow.
So what do you think?
October 27th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
I think some New Gods are going to die. Also, Countdown readers know that there is already a search for the souls of the slain New Gods and a mention of the Fifth World. Maybe that mean something, maybe it means nothing but I know that in the last three weeks we(or most of us) have gone crazy over Ollie’s “death”, we’ve gone ballistic over baby Helena’s “death”, and some are currently murmuring about Donna’s death.
It seems a bit premature to get worked up over this especially with emphasis on rebirth that was seen in the story itself.
Anyway here is a list of the current New God death list (thanks to majorspoilers)…
Death Count
Sleez—death from above.
Lightray—beaten up(off panel), thrown to the ground then kinda exploded.
Knockout—see below
Black Racer—-paralyzed in hospital bed.
Magnar—off panel.
Doctor Bedlam
Deep Six—died running away.
Grayven
Speed Queen
Big Barda—off panel
I haven’t seen all the deaths but of the one I have seen, everyone died without putting up a fight (Knockout sensed the killer behind her and turned around to greet him/her with a punch, but as soon as she saw the killer, she tried to run).
But what the real tragedy is that Lightray( Source rest rest soul) was not in the big two page spread of the New Gods.
October 27th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Don’t forget, John Byrne won’t even let anyone discuss Death Of The New Gods on his board!
October 27th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Why won’t he let anyone discuss it?
October 28th, 2007 at 1:21 am
I think Paul S.’s view of Barda is a little unique. Darkseid is the New God for people who don’t care about the New Gods, who’s well known to people from cartoons and popping up all over the DCU. Barda’s on the second or third level, along with Mr. Miracle, Orion, Desaad, Kalibak, Lightray, and Metron (who gets around too much to be “obscure”). That’s also part of why Barda had to die in #1– she’s one of the bigger name New Gods compared to, aside from Lightray, the lesser known characters who had died to that point.
he only real issue I have with Barda’s death (given the title of the series and all), is that the issue is structured far too closely to Identity Crisis #1, with Barda replacing Sue Dibney.
October 28th, 2007 at 11:08 am
The best “New Gods” story I ever read was the last issue in the first “Top Ten” Trade.
It’s the one about the supremely omnipotent beings being stuck in the same endless legends, doomed to repeat themselves despite they’re great power.
October 28th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Odds are, as soon as this book is over, they’ll be “reborn” anyway, preferably in some bright, spectacular way, and hopefully with a kick-ass creative team. In an ideal world, Grant Morrison and Walter Simonson.
October 29th, 2007 at 7:49 am
Yawn…I am waiting for the Return of the New Gods series before I care.