Justice League #23.1: Darkseid – Review

By: Greg Pak (story), Paulo Siqueira & Netho Diaz (art), Hi-Fi (colors)

The Story: This is the rags-to-riches story of a little fella named Darkseid.

The Review: It’s been a while since the Fourth World had anything like an ongoing series, but they remain one of DC’s most important properties.  Its cosmic mythology weaves in well with the science fiction of superheroes, yet also has an epic, high-fantasy quality that makes the DCU seem that much more profound.  The mystery of the New Gods’ goals and their very nature is what keeps them above the comparatively petty going-ons of the rest of the universe.

So it’s kind of a double-edged sword when writers start delving too deeply into the Fourth World mythos.  It might satisfy our hunger to know more about them, but it also risks reducing them to just another plot device for the DCU.  Indeed, characters like Madame Xanadu, the Phantom Stranger, and the Guardians of the Universe all devolved into less impressive figures as a result of revealing too much about them.  For that reason, it was probably a mistake to force Pak to explore the origins of Darkseid, which is obviously tied to the origins of the Fourth World itself.

Wonder Woman #22 – Review

By: Brian Azzarello (story), Cliff Chiang (art), Matthew Wilson (colors)

The Story: Figures that Diana would sleep through her time in Paradise.

The Review: I’m not versed enough in comics and their history to make broad statements about certain works and creators, but I don’t think I’m out of line in saying that Jack Kirby’s Fourth World was and remains one of the most important concepts in DC lore.  Wildly unappreciated in its time, it is now one of the bedrocks of the DCU, inspiring comic book writers to aspire beyond the superhero to the neo-mythic.

Azzarello is the lucky man who gets to decide what the New Gods mean and stand for in the current DCU.  Yet despite putting Orion in an ongoing role on this title, Azzarello has otherwise kept mostly mum about the Fourth World’s purpose.  To be frank, even though this issue takes place almost entirely on New Genesis, we only learn about the blessed realm and its denizens in the most general, if wonderfully hyperbolic terms:

“[A] world caught up in the joyful strains of life!  There are no structures on its green surface—except those which serve the cause of wellbeing…  Destiny’s road is charted in the city, massive, yet graceful—gleaming on its platform—a skyborne satellite drawn in endless silence by its hidden mechanisms!  The true place of peace.“

Wonder Woman #14 – Review

By: Brian Azzarello (story), Tony Akins (pencils), Dan Green & Rick Burchett (inks), Matthew Wilson (colors)

The Story: Even the Olympians have the one family member they don’t like to talk about.

The Review: I’ve come down pretty hard on Geoff Johns for his weak-sauce approach to Wonder Woman in Justice League, and a lot of my ire comes from comparing his take to Azzarello’s undeniably impressive version of her in her own ongoing.  It makes me wonder if Johns even reads Wonder Woman.  How can you reduce the demi-goddess of that book into the often uncertain and simple-minded princess who doesn’t even know how friendship works?

Even though I still think she remains a kind of unrelatable character, Diana strikes such a compelling balance between warrior and nurturer, in a way few superheroes from either of the Big Two do.  It’s true that given the connection between her and Siracca, it wouldn’t be that extraordinary for them to reach an understanding.  Nevertheless, how often do you see your heroes showing compassion and offering peace to their enemies?  How often do you see such unashamed, non-cynical love from a character?