Other than Jack Kirby's work itself, my favourite series was John Byrne's JACK KIRBY'S FOURTH WORLD.
This book included a back-up series where Byrne collaborated with other talents to tell stories of the New Gods--including Darkseid and Scott Free--which helped to flesh out the origins of those characters.
These back-up stories were collected in the trade paperback, TALES OF THE NEW GODS (2008). Walt Simonson did a lot of work for Byrne on FOURTH WORLD and when that title ended, Walt's ORION began.
I know that Simonson gets a lot of love and Byrne gets a lot of hate--but I think if you want to appreciate Walt's handling of the New Gods, you have to start with John's FOURTH WORLD.
I never read Byrne until after Simonson and I never really felt like I was missing anything - and I don't love all of Byrne's additions either. The idea that Darkseid is a pseudonym in particular really bothers me.
Personally, I'm on the "Kirby or Bust" train, even though I think Simonson's Orion is really and truly stellar. I think if you're into Kirby's DC mythology, just start out by reading Kirby! Grab up the Jack Kirby Forever People, Mister Miracle, New Gods and Jimmy Olsen trades and read those, that's the real stuff.
I think a lot of the stuff DC built on top of it later misses at least parts of Kirby's points, so the originals are really and truly the best place to start. For example, if you start with later stories where Superman and Darkseid - or Orion and Darkseid, or anyone really - slug it out all the time, and you go into Kirby with that as your base understanding of Darkseid, you might miss the fact that he never actually fights anyone. I'm not trying to make it more about Darkseid than it has to be either. Another example, if you read Tom King's Mister Miracle and that informs your view of Orion, you might find him less sympathetic than if you just started with Kirby's New Gods.
Last edited by Adekis; 06-28-2020 at 11:51 AM.
"You know the deal, Metropolis. Treat people right or expect a visit from me."
Yeah, I was hesitant to post my preference as I knew it wasn't going to get any support. Probably shouldn't have bothered.
I was going to say stoned, but other posters have given far better options!
"My name is Wally West. I'm the fastest man alive!"
I'll try being nicer if you try being smarter.
I have the Tales of the New Gods with the Byrne stories! It’s a great trade and definitely worth reading. There are stories with Jim Lee and Frank Miller I think! I also use to love the Super Team Family story where Orion’s look was redesigned. I think there is a Flash team up?
I just finished Cosmic Odyssey, and while there were some good moments, I was underwhelmed. Maybe the main adversary was too boring, maybe the pair-up dynamics fell a bit flat, and maybe the art just wasn't elevating the story. Expected a bit better from Starlin. Maybe I'm missing something about it, so interested to here others' thoughts.