With the Justice League gone, the flagship title focuses on the rise of the most powerful villain in the DC Universe: Darkseid.
Written by Greg Pak
Illustrated by Paulo Siqueira & Netho DiazFor Darkseid, Lord of Apokolips, you conform or die. Now born into his realm is an anomaly who looks to challenge that. A trickster, who will go to any length to survive even if it means sacrificing worlds to do it—leading to an Earth shattering confrontation between The Man of Steel and a Dark Lord.
As Villains Month begins across the entire DC Universe, it only makes sense that “Justice League”, featuring the most powerful heroes, changes its focus to the most powerful bad guy in the cosmos. Darkseid appeared early in the New 52, but his limited story time has only hinted at the history behind the character and how he came to be the ruler of the planet Apokolips. He appears to be an almost unbeatable foe, with nearly omnipotent power, but no one is born like that. Darkseid had to have a journey to reach his position of universal destroyer. “Darkseid” #23.1 follows the rise of a new god and provides a very satisfying look at the character who can terrorize the Justice League.
In the short few months that he has been working at DC, Greg Pak has managed to do something incredibly impressive: he has broken free of the New 52 mold that editorial has forced onto everything, and brought his own unique voice into the stories. Pak’s work on “Batman/Superman” deftly avoided the easy pattern a team-up book could have fallen into and created a series that stands on its own within the DC line. Pak has brought this same style to “Darkseid” and created something that honours the past history of the character, but sidesteps decades of complicated continuity. On the surface level, the history of Darkseid and the New Gods is dense, obtuse, and not very new-reader friendly. Pak’s stroke of genius was to present the story with (mostly) unseen narrator, who relates events in the same manner of a fairy tale. The first words in the story are: “Once upon a time…” and the entire issue moves with the grace a classic tale, sanding down the complicated bits to their most necessary pieces.
“Darkseid” is an origin story for the character, who has only made a somewhat underwhelming appearance at the end of the first “Justice League” arc, and an introduction to the world of Apokolips. This issue is a perfect example of how to do an origin correctly. Darkseid was originally Uxas, a farmer on planet where giant gods walk around as physical embodiments of hurricanes, firestorms, and typhoons. The gods are callous and cruel, bearing little attention to the mortals that they crush beneath their feet. It’s easy to see how Darkseid could grow into the bitter and cold hearted demi-god with whom readers are familiar. No childhood abuse, no murdered parents/wife/family, no deep-seeded psychological trauma. Pak makes Darkseid an intelligent character who was molded by his environment, out-smarted his enemies and was consumed by his own quest for power. Darkseid reacted to his surroundings in order to ensure his own survival and surely would never think of himself as a villain, as real villains never do. Pak writes Darkseid as an understandable character without having to resort to any tropes or clichés.
The art duties on “Darkseid” are split between Paulo Siqueira and new comer Netho Diaz. While the book does feature two distinct visual styles, the credits do not list how the pages were divided, making artist specific comments difficult. The book begins on a dissolute world where tiny people run through dry fields to escape the enormous gods who tower above them, and it’s all rendered in vivid detail. When a fire god and her rock counterpart embrace, the buildings and landscape are minuscule next to them but still precisely drawn, adding to their tremendous size. The detail carries over to the small mortal beings as well, as the terror and fear they feel is plainly visible on their faces. It actually helps to separate Darkseid and adds to his character, as his face always has a look of grim determination.
Continued belowAs the action picks up in the second half of the book, the art style morphs and becomes much more frantic. The kinetic energy found in these pages does match the pace of the story, but the detail featured in the earlier pages is lost. It’s not that Darkseid looks sloppy; on the contrary he is as imposing and articulated as ever, but the world around him is less vivid. The backgrounds become more stylized and mono-colored, and the panels themselves become smaller, losing the feeling grandeur. It’s in this section of the book where some familiar heroes turn up, with particular emphasis on Superman. The fight between the two is well handled, with the exception of one panel where Superman fly-punches into Darkseid and Superman is stretched and oddly proportioned. The art is not bad in the latter half of the book, but it doesn’t have the same grand feeling of a cosmic fairy tale that is found in the first.
“Darkseid” #23.1 has the potential to be one of the standout titles during Villains Month. It re-positions the dense history of the New Gods into an engrossing cosmic fairy tale, remaining true to the past while being accessible to new readers. Greg Pak crafts an origin story without resorting to any of the usual tricks, and the art from Paulo Siqueira and Netho Diaz in the first half the book is very impressive and, while losing detail, does maintain the kinetic energy that builds throughout. In a sea of villain books that will likely be hit or miss, “Darkseid” #23.1 was a satisfying read.
Final Verdict: 7.5 – Features an origin story that feels true to the character, and hasn’t been repeated a million times. It will surely make readers more curious about the world of Apokolips and the New Gods.
