Remake & Reboot: DC’s NEW GODS Comic Series

When it comes to comic, Jack Kirby is one of the most epic creators and contributors to the landscape of American comics as we know it. He had a Midas Touch over at Marvel with everything from Captain America to the X-Men, but across town at DC his contributions were more exotic. His villainous Darkseid has become a primal villain in the DC mythos, but his heroes the New Gods remain a hard concept for the widespread comics-buying public to understand.

But with the advent of the New 52 and Darkseid appearing as the primary villain in DC’s biggest series Justice League, now could be the time to use this as an opening to bring about a new age. Gone is the Fourth World… time to ring in the Fifth World.

The Concept:

The New Gods were a whole new race of heroes, villains and lurkers inbetween introduced in the early 70s by Jack Kirby to populate his own corner of the DCU. Mixing space opera with hard scifi concepts under the guise of super-hero drama, it stood out then and stands out now. They harped about living in “The Fourth World,” the time the heroes were living in then. Fast-forward to the recent Death of the New Gods series in 2007, DC’s Dan Didio promised it as the end of the New Gods as we knew it and promised something else. Grant Morrison held a similiar wake for Kirby’s heroes as part of the event series Final Crisis, but we’ve never seen what comes next.

Now in this New 52 era however, it gives a chance for these New Gods to re-emerge — not just as revamped version of what’s come before, but a chance to present them at the next stage of super-hero evolution. In the same way Kirby kept with the times developing heroes, imagine if someone carrying that similiar passion took the New Gods (finally) into the 21st Century. The characters might carry some of the familiar names and archetypes, but carrying new character designs and a new motus operandi it could  be the launching pad for a dramatic re-envisioning of Kirby’s concepts.

The Creators:

The Writer – Grant Morrison: Sure, asking for Grant Morrison might be asking a lot when it comes to revamping a comic series that has never been highly successful. But given Morrison’s flair for the dramatic and previous penchant for Kirby’s Fourth World characters (see Seven Soldiers and Final Crisis), I’d argue that Morrison’s already put tremendous thought into just this opportunity. With his run on Batman coming to a close soon, a reinvention of the New Gods could be the perfect example of the right place, the right time, with the right minds to do it justice.

The Artist – Cully Hamner: Although co-creating and illustrating Red and being tapped as one of primary designers of the characters in DC’s New 52 is a big deal, I was surprised when he wasn’t part of one of DC’s big books in the 2011 reboot. His work on The Shade is some great work, but seeing him take his designing and storytelling ability to the New Gods might be a match made in heaven. Plus, seeing him do some iconic shots of the New Gods one-by-one like the above Shade cover would be great too.

The Artist – Andrew Robinson: There’s no shame that most comic artists can’t keep up with a monthly schedule drawing comics these days; I’d rather them draw good than draw fast and lose the coherence of their work. For this, I’d have Cully Hamner rotate arcs with Andrew Robinson, an artist who’s been sorely missed when it comics to comics. We’ve seen him do cover work at DC and Dark Horse in recent years, but New Gods would be a book ripe for seeing what Robinson can do.

Comments

  1. I would buy this. I would buy this so damn hard.

  2. This is a great idea – GET ON IT, DC!

  3. i’ve been telling anyone who will listen that DC biffed it on not bringing in New Gods to the new 52, i mean come on!
    And no Question? But that’s another story….

  4. Grant Morrison on the new Gods? Sometimes the obvious choice is obvious because it’s the RIGHT choice. This isn’t something that should happen, it’s something that NEEDS to happen!

  5. I would love a New Gods title in the New 52. Where’s that Mr. Miracle monthly!?!

  6. didn’t Morrison kind of cock up the New Gods thing with Final Crisis?