Friday, January 13, 2023

The Source and Other Things Redux

©DC and Marvel. The New Gods and the Old Gods

[Jack Kirby's Fourth World remains a vital part of the DC Extended Universe in film and comics.

Nigel Brown re-examines The Source and Other Things.... ]

by Nigel Brown

(Warning: Contains Kirby’s Fourth World spoilers!)

 

Apart from our micro-circulation SuperStuff, my first fanzine contribution was an overview of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World saga, titled The Source and Other Things for Marc Baines’s Eon #2 (May-July 1975), a version of which had appeared in SuperStuff #1 (May-June 1974).


But beyond that overview, further delving into that mythos reveals a fundamental difference between Kirby’s ‘New Gods’ of his Fourth World and those ‘old gods’ of his work at Marvel in the 1960s.

 

When we consider the gods of the Marvel Universe, first thoughts turn to the Norse gods of the Thor comics. They were introduced very early on, in Journey Into Mystery #85 (Oct.1962), the third Thor story. 


Hercules, Zeus, Pluto and others in the Greek god pantheon appeared by the mid-1960s.


Both the Norse gods and the Olympians in the Marvel stories did as the gods of the Vikings and the Greeks did: they lived, they loved, they fought each other.

 

As well as these gods, there are two major Kirby characters in the Marvel universe that are nominally powerful aliens, but display enough ‘godlike’ characteristics to be termed as such: The Watcher and Galactus.


What marks them both out, as characters, is that they are static.


The Watcher is the very definition of the word. He does, or course, interfere to save the Earth, most notably from Galactus himself in Fantastic Four #50 (May, 1966), but his essential characteristic is just to watch others.


Galactus feeds on energy from planets containing life. That’s it. His sole motivation is his personal survival.


Therefore the Watcher and Galactus are both characters with primarily no other discernible purpose except that one watches, the other feeds. (This isn’t a complaint, by the way. Lee and Kirby produced some of the most exciting and memorable stories with the Watcher and Galactus, as they both played the role of seemingly inexorable forces against which others had to contend with in the Marvel universe.)

 

So all of these Marvel ‘gods’ have a common characteristic: a lack of purpose beyond the physical world in which they live.

 

Then Kirby moved to DC in 1970. This has been well documented, and one of the triggers for the move was his disillusionment with Marvel when he wanted to break new ground on his long-standing Thor comic. He wished to use the Norse legend of Ragnarok to transform the old Norse gods into new characters. Marvel said ‘no’, so he took the concept to DC as his ‘New Gods’.


As an aside, Kirby couldn’t explicitly tie them with Marvel’s Norse gods. He had to hint at their previous incarnation with a few clues – Thor’s abandoned helmet, for instance, in the back-up feature ‘The Young Gods of Supertown’ in Forever People #5 (Oct/Nov. 1971):

 

©DC. Thor's abandoned helmet from Forever People #5 Oct-Nov 1971

But from the first issue of the New Gods we can see that Kirby meant that things were to be different. We’re introduced to ‘The Source’, a mystery that Highfather says “lived as the old gods died” - New Gods #1 (Mar. 1971).


The interaction between the New Gods and ‘The Source’ is integral to the Fourth World saga’s narrative. They listen to it, they revere it. Orion says: “… It is eternal!” - New Gods #1 (Mar. 1971). 

 

©DC New Gods #1

They don’t understand ‘The Source’, but know that it offers them the possibility of growth, of becoming something beyond themselves. In Mister Miracle #9 (Aug. 1972), Himon says to Scott Free and Barda: 


“… there is still the riddle of what powers this Motherbox! The Source! It lives! It burns! When we reach out and touch it --- the core of us is magnified! And we tower as tall as Darkseid!”


He doesn’t mean as evil as Darkseid, but contact with ‘The Source’ enables them to stand up to the power of Darkseid by attaining their own potential… and beyond.

 

©DC . Mr. Miracle #9

They also see their afterlife in ‘The Source’. Orion, on the death of the New Genesis warrior, Seagrin, says: 


“… Motherbox… can do nothing more but perform her last service for Seagrin! She takes him to --- The Source!” - New Gods #4 (Sept. 1971).


But they do not submit to its orders. On New Genesis, the concept of freewill is respected. This is made clear at the beginning of the saga when Orion says: 


“The Source gives us irrevocable counsel!” 


and Highfather replies: 


“But it does not decide! The right of choice is ours! That is the life equation!” - New Gods #1 (Mar.1971).


Kirby appears to posit ‘The Source’ as a solution to the threat of another Ragnarok consuming the New Gods, as the salvation from a continual state of war, to peace. 


We see this in New Gods #7 (Mar. 1972), when Highfather, in desperation at the destruction brought about by the war between New Genesis and Apokolips, a seeming rerun of Ragnarok that destroyed the old gods, cries out:


“If I am Izaya the Inheritor --- what is my inheritance!?”


A flaming hand writes on a wall: ‘The Source’.


‘Soon after, Izaya returns to his command! He dresses in the clothes of peace—and he carries a new staff!!’


A pact is then formed between Highfather and Darkseid,and an era of cold peace begins that halts the wholesale destruction of the hot war.


The personification of the relationship between the New Gods and ‘The Source’ is the character Metron.


In speaking to Darkseid and the assembled leaders of Apokolips, Metron declares: 


“I have no link with the old gods – or new! I am something –different! Something that was unforeseen!! On New Genesis – or here!” - New Gods #7 (Mar. 1972).


This could be bluster on his part, but Kirby’s earnest style seems to discount this possibility.

 

©DC. New Gods #7

 

Metron’s motivation is made clear the first time we meet him, when he says: 


“What wouldn’t I give to possess knowledge of the ‘Source’!” - New Gods #1 (Mar. 1971). 


In the first few pages of New Gods #5 (Nov. 1971), we see him contemplating giants in the Promethean galaxy, “Intellects that equal my own!”, who tried and failed to engulf the final barrier to the Source by enlarging their atomic structure, now taking ‘a billion Earth years to feel one heartbeat!’ and ‘larger than a star cluster!’, “… and beyond all the knowledge and sweeping concept at our command, the mystery of The Source lies – serene – omnipotent – all-wise! But it does make contact with us – in New Genesis!” Metron then transports himself to ‘the point of contact with The Source!! Highfather’s staff!!’


He’s frustrated that such a mystery appears so far off, yet is also so near at hand, and he cannot fathom it.


But Metron is more than a cold, calculating scientist. He sees the possibility of the numinous in others, even if they are below him on the evolutionary scale. New Gods #4 (Sept. 1971) begins with him talking to the young scholar Esak, as they fly above the landscape of a primitive planet, and observe savages fighting below:


 “One day when their bellies are full, they will look up and see us! Then they will think and dream!”


Kirby ends his Fourth World saga not with another Ragnarok, but with an open-ended fate for the New Gods that stresses their appreciation of the mysteries of the unknown. In the DC Graphic Novel #4 ‘The Hunger Dogs’ (Mar. 1985), after the destruction of the planet New Genesis, with Supertown adrift in space, Highfather states: 


“… ahead may lie an endless voyage of wonders! If the cosmos is alive with such overwhelming mysteries as ‘The Source’, it is versatile enough to bombard us with sights and questions of monumental value.”


Highfather’s speech is a bit clunky, it must be admitted, but we get the point.

 

So Kirby endowed his New Gods with a sense of the spiritual, a striving to transcend themselves that his god-like creations at Marvel lacked.


It’s a shame that Kirby was too far ahead of his time for the comics industry. If he had produced his Fourth World today, I’m certain that he would have been given the space and allowed the depth to portray the fullness of his vision. I suppose we must be grateful that he got as far as he did.


And as I ended my article back in 1975: ‘No matter how many short-lived series Kirby brought out, he will always remain one of the ‘Greats’ in the comic book world.’

 

 

© Nigel Brown

5 comments:

  1. I always enjoyed those God like characters at Marvel like the Watcher , Galactus but Im afraid most of Kirbys New Gods (Darkseid being the exception)characters really never hit the spot with me (sacrilege I know). i didnt realise that Merton of the New Gods was that powerful. Maybe I need to read New Gods again

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    1. Another big difference is that the Watcher and Galactus weren't connected, whereas Kirby conceived his Fourth World characters as an ensemble, so I think they're all best looked at that way, if you want to reread these comics.
      (And hopefully my spoilers won't detract from the experience... 'it's the journey, not the destination'!)

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    2. I know it's a typo McScotty, but your ' "Merton" of the New Gods' made me envision Paul Merton of Have I Got News For You in the role.... :-)

      As Nigel just posted, I've also come to the conclusion that you have to view the series as an ensemble piece, rather than looking for any one individual to empathise with. I also found it very confusing back in the early 1970s because I was jumping into a story that was already going on, jumping across different comics.

      Having recently picked up reading the entire 4th World Story from the start, I found that it really helps to jump around all of the titles to read the stories in sequence.

      I believe this is the correct sequence, but I'm happy to be corrected:

      * Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #133,134,135
      * Forever People #1
      * New Gods #1
      * Mister Miracle #1
      * Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #136
      * Forever People #2
      * New Gods #2
      * Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #137
      * Mister Miracle #2
      * Forever People #3
      * New Gods #3
      * Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #138
      * Mister Miracle #3
      * Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #139
      * Forever People #4
      * New Gods #4
      * Mister Miracle #4
      * Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #141
      * Forever People #5
      * New Gods #5
      * Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #145
      * Mister Miracle #5
      * Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #146
      * Forever People #6
      * New Gods #6
      * Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane #117
      * Mister Miracle #6
      * Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #145
      * Forever People #7
      * New Gods #7
      * Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane #119
      * Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #146
      * Mister Miracle #7
      * Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #147
      * Forever People #8
      * New Gods #8
      * Mister Miracle #8
      * Forever People #9
      * New Gods #9
      * Mister Miracle #9
      * Forever People #10
      * New Gods #10
      * Mister Miracle #10
      * Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #152
      * Forever People #11
      * New Gods #11
      * Mister Miracle #11 -18
      * New Gods (Reprint Series) #6
      * The Hunger Dogs (graphic novel)

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  2. I did enjoy Kirbys Mr Miracle and his Jimmy Olsen comics , but New Gods & especially the Forever People I found challenging so I would have missed large chunks of the "ensemble " storyline which may explain my lack of enthusiasm for his 4th World series. It had lots of great themes and ideas but for me there were so many of these that or me at keast, it interfered with the flow of the story.

    Oops sorry about the Paul Merton typo lol

    The article was a well researched and interesting read though.

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    1. Thanks! I do remember that a lot of the attraction was how different they were to the usual DC fare at the time. And also Marvel back then.
      Kirby seemed to regain the energy and innovation that he'd poured into his best years on The Fantastic Four and Thor, when he came up with so many new characters and cosmic concepts almost on a monthly basis.
      Because the Fourth World comics introduced so much, so fast, and so much new (despite involving Jimmy Olsen and Superman to some extent), I felt the palpable sense of wonder that only a twelve-year old can have... and I was twelve at the time!
      But I would argue that DC's later attempts to follow through with the 'Fourth World' only served to expose how foolish they were to cancel the original titles.

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