The cover is pretty cool. You have members of the JSA and JLA getting their butts handed to them by Orion. Yeah, that's supposed to be Orion. I know, it's strange seeing him in this outfit. I have no idea why, but he did go back to the original Kirby design. Fun Fact, this cover was a Jim Starlin piece. Yup, the guy who is most known for writing tons of Thanos stories at Marvel drew this. A shame he doesn't do more art as far as I know, because his art is very nice.
"Crisis on New Genesis!" or "Where Have All the New Gods Gone?"
Writer: Gerry Conway
Penciler: Dick Dillin
Inker: Frank McLaughlin
Colorist: Gene D'Angelo
Letterer: Ben Oda
Editor: Len Wein
Executive Editor: Joe Orlando
The story beings with members of the JLA and JSA getting ready to teleport to each other's Earths.
The Earth-1 contingent consists of Superman, Batman, Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond/Martin Stein), and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan). From Earth-2, we get Wonder Woman, Dr. Fate, Power Girl, and the Huntress (Helena Wayne). The eight heroes get transported, but it gets intercepted, and they end up...
In New Genesis, home of the New Gods! Thank God and Jack Kirby I found this double-page spread in Google Images. My tablet gets very angry when I try to scan double-page spreads. The heroes are utterly confused as to how they got here. Superman has been here before [He first encountered New Genesis in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #147 (March 1972)] , so he is able to fill in the other heroes. Superman admits that he felt at home in a way because the New Gods were a lot like him: very powerful beings. Power Girl wonders why he didn't stay. Superman explains that Earth was still his home, and he still had a responsibility to protect it.
Wonder Woman finds it hard to believe they are actual gods, as she recognizes the Greek pantheon. Also, they have no counterparts on Earth-2. Which makes sense, as the New Gods really are their own thing, a unique thing in the DC Multiverse. Superman notices that one of the heroes is missing, and Hal Jordan figures it out.
Yup, it's Firestorm. The brash superhuman youth is bored by the older heroes' yakking, so he decides to go exploring for himself. Martin Stein warns that this is a dangerous action, but Ronnie Raymond is like "Shaddup, old man! There's nothing here, so quit your old man bellyaching!" He looks around, and notices the city is rather deserted. It leads Firestorm to wonder where everybody went. However, Stein's warning may have been wise, as the city does have one occupant: Orion the Hunter, the New Gods' Dog of War. And as can be seen, he's nothing but overjoyed to welcome the Justice League member to New Genesis.
Firestorm freaks out and flies for his life, screaming for help. An energy beam hits the matter manipulator in the back, and he tumbles to the ground, landing in front of Orion. Hearing his plea for help, the other heroes scramble to help. They find Firestorm, with Orion tending to him. As it is in superhero comics, they fight. Dr. Fate tries to use his magic (in the form of shooting golden ankhs) on the New God, but Orion is not impressed. The warrior uses what I am presuming is the Astro Force to blast the magician, Power Girl, and Superman away. Huntress and Batman throw some tear gas capsules at Orion, and strangely...they seem to have some effect. Of course. #BatPrivilege in action.
But it is helpful. Superman, Wonder Woman, and Dr. Fate nail Orion in the chops, and Green Lantern catches Orion with a green pillow. Hal laments that it seems unfair that the seven heroes are ganging up on one guy. Hal, Orion isn't some street hoodlum. He's a New God. Also, he's their warrior. He's one the New Gods go to when they need some butts kicked. I doubt he'd complain.
Power Girl reminds Hal that Orion attacked them...after scaring Firestorm. Dr. Fate points out that they arrived uninvited. Wonder Woman and Batman counter this by saying something brought them here. Some did, alright.
Meet Metron, the New God embodiment of science and knowledge. And he's brought some friends with him: Mister Miracle, Big Barda, and Oberon. If you want to learn more about Miracle and Oberon, I suggest you look at my review of Mister Miracle #1 (March 1971). Metron explains that the New Gods need their help. Orion was acting violent because he blames himself for their current problems, which Metron considers rather unfair. He also uses his Mobius Chair to heal Firestorm.
Big Barda explains the reason why Metron brought the heroes to New Genesis: the world of Apokolips has kidnapped all of the New Genesians, and intends to turn them into mindless slaves. Huntress is confused. Why can't Metron, Barda, Miracle, and Orion handle it? Well, the Apokoliptians have some allies: Earth-2's Injustice Society. I'm guessing it was timing that was the reason some Earth-1 heroes got dragged into it.
On Apokolips, a Boom Tube opens up, and the heroes arrive on the world of evil. Batman, Huntress, and Mister Miracle head out to do some scouting. The group splits up into other teams: Power Girl, Firestorm, and Orion will investigate a large-scale construction to the north. Superman, Wonder Woman, and Big Barda head to one of Granny Goodness's infamous orphanages, where New Genesis's children are being held. Green Lantern, Oberon, and Dr. Fate will take care of the shock troop barracks.
Huntress is confused by the whole thing. After all, wasn't the war between Apokolips and New Genesis supposed to be over by this point? According to Mister Miracle, it was supposed to be. Orion had supposedly destroyed his evil father Darkseid once and for all, but considering that Darkseid still had many evil cronies that were still around, so...yeah. It's not surprising some of them would want some payback.
He, Barda, Metron, and Oberon were out exploring the galaxy, but found New Genesis completely deserted on their return. The comic says he felt guilt for betraying his father, but that makes no sense to me. Orion knew his father was an evil jerk, and rejected that thanks to growing up on New Genesis. Orion was born of evil, but showed to be a good man. It just would make more sense to me if Orion's guilt over what he felt was his failure as the protector of New Genesis. That's what he always was to me: Their warrior, the one Highfather brings in when he wants someone's butt kicked.
Anyway, Huntress, Batman, and Miracle sneak up on some Apokoliptian guards and beat them up. Afterwards, Miracle recalls the events of Adventure Comics #460 (December 1976), in which Darkseid got unwittingly destroyed by an experimental weapon. So, with Darkseid gone, who is behind this new war between the worlds of the New Gods? I'm guessing one of his Elite, as they are still running around back then as far as I know.
We next go to a barracks in the city of Armagedda. I'm assuming it's the twin sister city of Armagetto, ha ha. Two guards are bringing Oberon to the entrance. Evidently, the dwarf got himself captured. One of the guards taunts Oberon about his height, who kicks him in the leg. Ha. Take that, jerk. He's about to be shot, but the guards who "captured" Oberon save him, revealing they are Green Lantern and Dr. Fate in disguise. Wait, don't those guards have yellow in their uniforms? How was GL able to make that? Yellow tended to not agree well with Green Lantern rings at the time. I'm assuming it was a mix of his ring and Fate's magic.
Fate and GL blast their way into the barracks, but Hal raises an interesting point: How do they know the people of New Genesis are being here? Fate reminds him that this only one of four likely locations Metron suggested. Hal recalls that Metron's Mobius Chair did sense someone from New Genesis here. Fate locates the prisoner, and Hal cuts a way in with an energy jackhammer. However, who is inside...will have to be revealed later. Time for a scene change! We next go to one of Granny Goodness's prison-orphanages.
In the prison, a pair of guards are taking a young girl to a "punishment machine"...essentially a torture device. The girl had grown a flower on a training field, as she wanted to see something pretty, but this is Apokolips. Flowers are not allowed here. One of the guards prepares to strap the child in, but is caught by a certain magic lasso. Wonder Woman is here, and with backup from Superman and Big Barda. The Man of Steel and Apokolips Amazon dispatches the guards.
I just included that panel because it was funny. And in a rather heartwarming moment, the fearful girl asks if she will be punished, but Wonder Woman tells her that she won't be punished ever again. Aww. Meanwhile, Firestorm, Orion, and Power Girl had found something else.
Yup, it's a big ol' cannon. Makes me wonder if Marvin the Martian had consulted on the design of this thing. He does want to create an Earth-shattering kaboom, after all. Firestorm notes three men on the control platform.
Meet three members of the Injustice Society. The Fiddler, master of sound! The Shade, the King of Shadows! The Icicle, the Man with the Killer Chill! The Fiddler is playing his violin...yeah, he's a Golden Age villain, first appearing in All-Flash #32 (January 1948). The sound activates the machine, and the cannon fires some rays. The rays converge on a point in space, and something is forming in the corona. Orion pales in horror, as he knows who is in the energy storm.
Darkseid is back. And he is presumably not a happy New God. But then again, it's Darkseid. Happy is not his thing.
This issue was perfectly fine. It's setting up a multi-issue storyline here, and it does a good job of it. We get what's going on, why the heroes are there, and why they're there. I do wish we got a bit more time with Metron outlining his plan to find the New Genesis natives. The meeting of Firestorm and Orion is pretty funny, and wait...I noticed throughout this issue, Orion was shown flying without his Astro-Harness. I thought he needed that to fly.
Also, Orion's costume here is kind of...strange. Why did he get a new costume, yet the other New Gods retained their Kirby costumes? It's an odd choice. Also, I found having both Batman and Huntress kind of redundant. Why not replace one of them with one of the Flashes or Zatanna? Aw well, this adventure has two Kryptonians, so why not two "Bat"-related characters?
Dick Dillin's artwork is rather nice. His art was synonymous with the Justice League book throughout the 1970s, as he drew most of the issues during that time. He started on issue #64 (August 1968), and would draw 115 issues of the comic over the next 12 years. In fact, there's a bit of a sad note to this comic, as this was the last JLA issue he drew before he died of a heart attack on March 1, 1980. He has started work on #164, but only finished the first couple of pages before his death. The next issue would be penciled by George Perez and inked by Frank McLaughlin, who didn't use those pages. I don't know if those two and a half pages Dillin drew have ever been seen by the public. I personally would love to see them, if only for the historical value, and an idea of what could have been.
Next time, we take a look at the beginning of a team-up between Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes...
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