WALTER SIMONSON'S ORION COVER GALLERY - PART ONE...

Images copyright DC COMICS

No matter how many times DC COMICS have tried to revive

JACK KIRBY's NEW GODS characters, none of their attempts

at following in the King's footsteps ever lasted for long.  True, there

have now been far more issues of non-Kirby Fourth World mags than

produced by their creator, but the only ones I found even remotely

interesting were JACK KIRBY'S FOURTH WORLD by JOHN

BYRNE, and ORION by WALTER SIMONSON.

It was ambitious of them to try, because, to be frank, if Jack

himself couldn't keep the magazines going, the odds were stacked

against anyone else doing it.  I never found either the characters or

concepts of the original series particularly inspired, 'though there

was the occasional gem amongst the 40 issues (55 if you include

JIMMY OLSEN) that DC published in the '70s.

The recent 9-issue series of INFINITY MAN And The

FOREVER PEOPLE was immensely underwhelming (surely a

contradiction-in-terms, but you know what I mean), not helped by

the fact that certain liberties were taken with the players.  DC have

messed around with their continuity too many times for readers to

know (or care) precisely who's who or what's what anymore, and

it's well-past time DC realized that the characters work better as

supporting figures than major heroes who can carry their

own titles.  (Feel entirely free to disagree.)

It's likely that the nostalgic affection for Kirby comicbooks

read in their youth will ensure that some writers will continue in

their attempts to revive the Fourth World heroes in mags of their

own in the future, but I can't help but think it's that nostalgia for

a vanished age which compels them, rather than any obvious

inherent merit in the characters, as a whole, themselves.

However, John Byrne and Walter Simonson have carried the

torch higher, longer, and brighter than anyone else thus far, so

let's take a look at the first 7 covers of the latter's 25 issue series

from around 15 years ago.  Another 3 parts to follow, so don't

dare miss 'em or DARKSEID will bite you on the bum!

    

Posted in: Cartoons