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Apr 27, 2018

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1157: New Gods #4, September 1984

https://www.comics.org/issue/39066/

When I think of Dan Turpin, all I can think of is the utter tragedy of his transformation in Final Crisis. It is a very intense sequence to read, seeing a personality recognize it's own demise as a foreign, and immensely powerful, entity takes control of the body.

So I have to admit, it was kind of nice seeing him stand up to Kalibak in today's issue. I still don't understand his dislike of the heroes, though the destruction that follows them around is kind of obnoxious. Do Damage Control do cross-dimensional work?

The first story in this issue is a flashback that reveals the origins of the war between New Genesis and Apokolips, and also the origins of both Mister Miracle and Orion. I hadn't realized this had been a secret. Having gained exposure to the New Gods through much later tales, I always just assumed that Orion's and Scott's lineages were common knowledge. There was something that bothered me in this otherwise excellent tale of the rise of Darkseid and the redemption of Highfather. In the beginning (words used purposefully, btw), Izaya's wife Avia is killed by Darkseid's uncle, Steppenwolf. That is literally her purpose in this story. 3 or 4 panels, and then dead, and it turns into Izaya's tragedy. I know we call this the "Women in Refrigerators" trope, but today's story was published about 20 years before that issue of Green Lantern. I'm coming to realize that Kirby's myth, at least this part of it, is pretty sexist. Though, perhaps we could also read it, given the cover, as an indictment of masculinity gone mad? I think this is one of those moments where I'm just too optimistic in my critical readings.

More to come...

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