DEATH OF THE NEW GODS #7 (OF 8)

Review by: Conor Kilpatrick


Size: pages
Price: 3.50

If you’re at all into the DC Universe and are looking forward to Final Crisis then this is the most important mini-series that you are not reading.

Jim Starlin has been channeling his own inner Kirby fanboy with this series as he ushers The Fourth World off onto whatever mortal coil new gods shuffle off to.  Someone or something has been murdering the New Gods one by one and this is all barreling towards the events in Final Crisis, one would assume, if the leaks about the plot are correct.

I don’t want to spoil anything because I think that this mini is worth reading and because it is a whodunit revealing any details would be a disservice.  It is an 8 parter that probably could have been 6, but the last few issues have been fantastic and I dont’ care about the filler in the beginning anymore.

Starlin is clearly having a blast telling on old-school style cosmic showdown in which the dialogue is appropriately bombastic and the art is big and epic.

I first picked up this series because of my love of the New Gods and it ended up being one of the best comic book buying decisions I’ve made in the last year.  I literally cannot wait to see how it ends.

Story: 5 - Excellent
Art: 4 - Very Good

Comments

  1. Crap, I guess I have to buy this now.

  2. @SixGun – It’s really old school comic booking, which might not be to your liking.  It’s about as far from grounded in realism and gritty comics as you can get.

  3. I couldn’t agree more!  I’m loving this mini too!  I haven’t read this issue yet, as I haven’t started this weeks books.  I can’t wait to read this.

  4. The new gods are outstanding.  Starlin is doing an awesome job with this book.  I love the throwback cosmic greatness of this book.  And its like what, 40 pages each issue?  Everyone should read this book.

  5. going to be hard to avoid this trade; glad it’ll be worth it!

  6. I’m really glad I jumped onto this at #3. It’s giving me good story and background going into Final Crisis that I just wasn’t getting from Countdown. I hadn’t read any Jim Starlin or New Gods before this mini, and now want to go back and read the original Kirby stories. Even without that background, this has been a good intro to the New Gods mythos and Starlin’s cosmic storytelling style.

  7. As a Jim Starlin (and Kirby and Fourth World) fan from waaaaay back, I was pretty disappointed with the first several issues.  Jim’s writing and art were feeling a little anachronistic (not to mention some annoying inconsistencies in his figures, esp. Orion), but I stubbonly stuck with the series mostly because of my curiosity about its final destination.  I also wanted to see if it ended up a trainwreck.

    But this issue was a HUGE improvement on both fronts.  The colors by Jeremy Cox are … cosmic!  The story and characterization are more nuanced and it no longer feels like Starlin is just bludgeoning the franchise into permanent oblivion.  I’m happy that one of my favorite creators still has his chops when it counts. 

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