By: Brian Azzarello (story), Cliff Chiang (art), Matthew Wilson (colors)
The Story: Figures that Diana would sleep through her time in Paradise.
The Review: I’m not versed enough in comics and their history to make broad statements about certain works and creators, but I don’t think I’m out of line in saying that Jack Kirby’s Fourth World was and remains one of the most important concepts in DC lore. Wildly unappreciated in its time, it is now one of the bedrocks of the DCU, inspiring comic book writers to aspire beyond the superhero to the neo-mythic.
Azzarello is the lucky man who gets to decide what the New Gods mean and stand for in the current DCU. Yet despite putting Orion in an ongoing role on this title, Azzarello has otherwise kept mostly mum about the Fourth World’s purpose. To be frank, even though this issue takes place almost entirely on New Genesis, we only learn about the blessed realm and its denizens in the most general, if wonderfully hyperbolic terms:
“[A] world caught up in the joyful strains of life! There are no structures on its green surface—except those which serve the cause of wellbeing… Destiny’s road is charted in the city, massive, yet graceful—gleaming on its platform—a skyborne satellite drawn in endless silence by its hidden mechanisms! The true place of peace.“
This is all Highfather’s rhetoric, but it’s his son who’s willing to point out some less beautiful truths about their history, showing Diana the ruined, overgrown world beneath their floating paradise, the remains of a terrible war. For all the New Gods’ pretenses at grandeur, they, too, have something to aspire to, as Orion believes they may only return to their original capital “once we prove we’re worthy.”
Proving one’s worth is something of an ongoing obsession for Orion—unsurprisingly, given how this incarnation of Highfather is much more crotchety than you might remember. You might be taken aback by his more militaristic bearing and appearance, unless you remember he’s being motivated by a desire to save time and space itself. Besides, it may very well be that his harshness is not entirely what it seems. As Orion apologizes for once again flying off the handle, Highfather murmurs after him, “No apology necessary, my son. Good luck…”
Our time on New Genesis is sadly brief and thus disappointing. Aside from some formalities in address, the encounter between Hera and Highfather hardly registers at all, and we don’t see nearly as much of the Fourth World as we’d like. Still, there’s no denying that Diana and Co. don’t have the luxury to dawdle in Paradise, and when they do return home, they arrive just barely in time, with London already in ruins and chaos.
Maybe all this will finally prod Wonder Woman into becoming the heroine we expect her to be. The fact is she’s been altogether too reserved and passive in her own series. Azzarello has done a fine job in exploring the vastness of her heart—her compassion towards Orion, which allows him to begin to find the peace that’s alluded him, is particularly touching—but gentler virtues aside, we need a truly outstanding moment that displays her appeal. Her terse speech to the First Born (“This…wanton destruction will not go unpunished. I will avenge every death by your hand in kind.”) is merely a good start.
Another whole issue drawn by Chiang? Hurrah! (It seems at least one of those nightly rituals I’ve been performing is working.) As someone who has a taste for the retro myself, I can’t help adoring his sci-fi-chic designs, but surely even those who don’t are for that style themselves can appreciate how evocative Chiang’s art can be on a minimum of lines. New Genesis is truly a vision of architectural perfection, sleek and beautifully formed, yet completely functional as well. On the other end of the spectrum, you have the image of Lennox’s severed, shattered head, which, despite its bloodlessness, is a haunting sight that you somehow can’t look away from. Wilson’s colors are a marvel as well, no less simple than Chiang’s lines as he draws mainly on the most basic hues for his work, but nevertheless striking and moody as needed.
Conclusion: At times, it’s hard to tell if Azzarello is trying to accomplish too much or doing too little. There’s much to like here, in both the script and art—especially the art—but there’s even more left wanting.
Grade: B
– Minhquan Nguyen
Some Musings: – Now that I think of it, Orion and Diana have quite a bit in common: both children of gods, but striving to forge their own identities; both “impetuous and impulsive,” following their instincts and heart by turns. I dunno—I’d be open to seeing them explore a relationship.
Grade
Conclusion