Random Happenstance

There is currently a lot of hype over the newest New Gods books, and while Ram V has done some stuff I liked, I wonder if the hook isn't going to be like the recent-ish Green Lantern crossover Godhead. (From ten years ago? Geez.) In that, despite the absence of the "evil" Darkseid, the "good" gods of New Genesis were still locked into a war mindset and were not really any better than their counterparts, covering their decisions with platitudes like "hard decisions" and "for the greater good." Which, honestly, you don't have to look super-far to see parallels in today's culture for that, huh? Although, my enthusiasm for any New Gods stuff might be tempered by the fact that I have a drawerful of assorted last issues for them, but let's check one I grabbed at random: from 1996, New Gods #10, "Sacrifice of the Gods" Written by Rachel Pollack, pencils by Stefano Raffaele, inks by Brian Garvey.

The story opens with guest-star Superman, in a situation not unlike he would face in his own books: with earthquakes and angry electrical storms hitting Metropolis, he flies into action, frustrated at "choices," having to prioritize figuring out the problem rather than simply helping people. When a Boom Tube appears, Supes assumes it's going to be a Darkseid-thing, but instead receives a message in the form of Highfather's colossal face, who tells him to come to New Genesis, where the real problem was. Metropolis appears to be able to see Highfather's projection, so the effect is that of God seemingly summoning Superman away, which I feel would be a weird look for him. Travelling through the Boom Tube, Superman arrives to find Darkseid, and gets zapped by his Omega Beams before he can throw down, but Highfather tells him Darkseid wasn't the problem here. Instead, it was S'ivaa, the "dancer of destruction," a force from the "timeless time between the death of the old gods and the birth of the new." With the Source out of balance, only "sacrifice" could stop S'ivaa from destroying the universe; and Darkseid and Highfather had to prepare before giving themselves to the Source. (I really don't think Darkseid would be trustworthy on that sort of thing.) They need Superman, to help Orion stall S'ivaa.

Orion, for his part, isn't keen on Superman's help, but if Highfather says so, then whatever. They don't do well, and S'ivaa tears a hole in space, through which Superman can see multiple, seemingly tiny worlds, and hear them screaming as they burn. Orion's Mother Box advises them, to use Superman's heat vision and Orion's astro-force, to "cauterize" the universe-hole. This leads to a somewhat lengthy sidebar: to Orion, all other universes were "mere bubbles" in the one true universe of New Genesis. Superman argues no, but Orion goes on: that includes Superman's universe as well. But, wouldn't Superman be microbe-sized in New Genesis, and Orion a massive giant on earth? Nah, the Boom Tube adjusted sizes to relative conditions. Supes is seemingly befuddled by this revelation, which I think Kirby did a couple times as well, to underline the fact the New Gods were up there, and not just costumed baddies for fight scenes. On the other hand, is Orion a trustworthy source, as it were; or is he repeating the dogma?

Both Apokolips and New Genesis were being shaken by S'ivaa's incursion, as we see some Parademons try and stop some "Lowlies" from performing their own pagan sacrifices to the fire in the hopes of salvation. Meanwhile, Highfather and Darkseid have seemingly completed their preparations, which for Highfather appeared to mostly be lamenting that he couldn't kill Darkseid right there. But, greater good and all; and he and Darkseid fly into the Source Wall...Darkseid? Hey, Darkseid, you here? Yeah, Darkseid bails, laughing as Highfather gets sucked in. But, would that be enough sacrifice to save the universe...to be continued! Pollack would have one more issue, before John Byrne took over with New Gods #12: somewhat surprisingly, instead of a new #1, that would be a ninety-nine cent issue. The series would only continue to #15, though; before relaunching as Jack Kirby's Fourth World #1. The cycle continues to continue...