Finished reading Ram V's New Gods.
It's... sort of hard to describe what appeals so much to me about the New Gods. The collection volume I have of Kirby's stuff and not the least of which this new series, beyond that it's grand, operatic. Genuinely so.
I think part of it is that Kirby and V deliberately didn't try to explain everything about how the gods' works. Just enough. What sells them as godly and magical is the way their powers and radiance just springs into life. What they touch is changed in various ways because it just does. I feel like there is some genuine spiritual mystery to them as beings while VERY importantly at the same time they are still characters affected by the world and each other. Personal pains, traumas, natures, ambitions and reactions. They have some grand idea to them and what they stand for but as far as I can recall Kirby rarely stated what that was outright. I haven't read anything of the Forever People or Scott Frees and Big Barda's adventures and origins, so I feel like I have no way to comment on the authenticity of them here except that this matches the vibes of all that I've seen of them in brief appearances, here and there. All I've read was (to be fair, understandably) Orion-heavy. This new series? It felt very much like a modern day sequel to the original form of Kirby's grand world and story there. And I think that's very impressive.
I'm unsure, however, how rich this would be for someone foreign to the New Gods. V & co. drew from a large roster of that world, for the better I'd say; mostly the comic does explain what you need to know about the characters that pop up, who they are and what history they have. I would strongly encourage anyone who cares about comics to give it a try and see for themselves if that hits or misses. My confusion on the subject comes from what I'm about to say:
I don't really have a useful impression I can leave to any would-be reader of this to work with, sadly. I'm kind of stuck on a particular feeling of my own there that I don't think is very telling of the comic itself (subjectivity and all that), but... the way it ended made me tear up.
There's something so moving to me about this page, knowing how much Highfather cared for this angry, Hulk-like boy to know love and trust amongst all the other things the universe would have to offer or inflict upon him, as if it hadn't already. Deeply flawed as a father and ruler old Izaya knew that he was. But why this particular instance strikes so deep with me, I can't say.
