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Ever since Jim Starlin burst upon the Marvel scene back in the 1970s, I longed for this guy to write and draw the New Gods. Starlin flirted with them a time or two, but it took about thirty years for him to tackle them in Death of the New Gods. Starlin's artwork is glorious and he depicts characters like Darkseid (a clear inspiration for Starlin's Marvel character, Thanos) in all their evil majesty. Getting him to do this series was a smart decision on DC's part--what other writer is better at telling cosmic stories about death-obsessed megalomaniacs? It's interesting to see Starlin handle Superman in this story, who sort or becomes our viewpoint into the story as each New God gets killed off.
However, this series has one really serious, crippling flaw--the freaking conclusion occurs off-panel in Countdown #2! I can't imagine how pissed I would be if I waited for the trade on this one. You get to the end, which promises the final knockdown apocalyptic battle between Darkseid and Orion--and it doesn't happen? Even worse, they denied Starlin the opportunity to draw such a monumental fight. Man, that is seriously fucked up.
What else is fucked up? The whole concept of death in comics. You know the New Gods are coming back in some form. Regardless, I enjoyed this series except for the ending--Starlin's still got the chops. Nuff said.
