The Creative Team
Written by: Jim Starlin
Penciled by: Mike Mignola
Inked by: Carlos Garzon
Colored by: Steve Oliff
Lettered by: John Workman
Editor: N/A
Publisher: DC Comics
Quick Ratings
Jesse: Perfect!
Nick: Decent
The Review
Nick
The Lowdown
Back in the eighties, company wide crossovers were the big hoopla. Marvel’s Secret Wars and DC’s Crisis were what kicked it off. What followed were tons of crossovers over the years. Some were awesome (Final Night, DC 1 Million,) some were decent (Underworld Unleashed,) others would leave scars and nightmares (Onslaught, or Genesis, another Darkseid crossover.)
Cosmic Odyssey would probably fall into the decent category.
Now, this was not a company wide crossover. It was a four-issue mini-series, which was, thankfully, self-contained. That’s something Dixon’s Last Laugh could’ve learned from.
Jim Starlin had, at the time, just finished wowing everyone over at Marvel with his Captain Marvel stuff. Hoping to bring DC to that cosmic level, he penned Cosmic Odyssey.
I’ll admit I am most definitely NOT a fan of the New Gods. I haven’t read any of the actual Jack Kirby original stuff though, so my opinion could change whenever I buy a TPB of the New Gods. It just seems like everyone and his dog has tried their hand at writing the war between New Genesis and Apokolips. The Superman animated series, from what I’ve seen, has done very well. Most others have not.
The basic gist of Cosmic Odyssey is simple: Darkseid, all-powerful New God of Apokolips, is faced with something even he can’t handle. So he calls upon a group of heroes from Earth to help. We get the gathering done and over with quickly, and things get on their way; much like this review.
The Good
Cosmic threat, small battles. Rather than seeing dozens of warships on the edge of the galaxy, the threat is scattered different ways. Therefore, our heroes are forced to split up. Starlin writes a good, fun script; the threats are handled as they should be and everyone’s happy in the end. I’ll continue on this in “The Badâ€.
Thank God for Mike Mignola. He’s famous for a little title called Hellboy (which I plan to review someday). His simplistic, gritty art fits well with the story. You can even see just a hint of Kirby in some shots. I admit, Mignola’s art was my one reason for getting this book, and I was not disappointed in the least. He handles the big planetary explosions quite well. If there was anyone I’d love to see work on Batman, it’d be Mignola. His gritty, film noir style from Hellboy rings throughout the streets of Gotham. There’s also some great action sequences on the planet Thanagar wherein the Thanagardians battle against Superman and Orion.
Did I mention I love the artwork?
The Bad
*Sigh* Well, as much as I like the simple story, and the action sequences, the characters sometimes are…. out of character. Batman’s inner monologue sounds good at some points, but then there’s points where he says things like “Eureka!†or “Ready or not, here I come!†It just sounds silly, especially if you use the voice from the animated series.
Also, they utilized a seldom-used (at that time) Green Lantern: John Stewart. Although now gaining a larger fan base, (thanks to Justice League – another animated series), he was the lesser appreciated of the GL’s. In this story, he comes across as ridiculously cocky and a loner. If they had used Guy Gardner, it would have made sense, but John? From what little I remember he seemed to be just a tad more sensible.
Plus, J’onn Jonzz (aka: Martian Manhunter) comes off as a complete prick.
The Ugly
Something that didn’t make sense after reading Cosmic Odyssey was The Demon Etrigan’s role. Starlin built him up to be the so-called savior of the universe, and ended up being Darkseid’s lapdog.
Darkseid asking for help? I understand that it’s the basis of the whole story but it just seems out of character for him, too.
There was also a little, half a page, scene at the very end between Highfather and Adam Strange. I don’t recall Strange doing anything at all to warrant getting advice from Highfather. He was unconscious for most of the damn book!
Jesse
Released in 1988, “The Cosmic Odyssey was yet another example of DC attempting to cash in on Jack Kirby’s short-lived “New Gods†characters. Introduced in the early 1970s, the New Gods never really caught on with the exception of Darkseid, who in the pages of the Legion of the Super-Heroes became elevated to the level of villain supreme during the “Great Darkness Sagaâ€. To write “The Cosmic Odysseyâ€, DC made the effort to recruit Jim Starlin (who had gained immense popularity with his work at Marvel on Captain Marvel and with the Adam Warlock character and his epic, cosmos-spanning storylines) to take a stab at writing a Prestigious Format mini-series, featuring the New God characters. He had the help of a young artist known as Mike Mignola, who would later gain fame in the comic industry with his creation Hellboy.
The plot for “The Cosmic Odyssey†revolves around Darkseid forging a truce with his longtime enemy Highfather (leader of the heroic New Gods) to stop the coming threat of the Anti-Life Equation. Long believed to be a scientific formula that could be harnessed to create the perfect doomsday weapon, the Anti-Life Equation has been revealed to be an actual sentient entity which seeks nothing less than to feed upon the universe and it won’t stop until all of creation is consumed. Worse yet, thanks to the meddling of Metron (a New God scientist), the Anti-Life Entity has found a way to send portions of itself from it’s dimensional exile to create a tear in the fabric of space and time to allow it to enter our universe. To do so, the Anti-Life Entity must destroy two out of four planets that exist in a pathway in the Milky Way Galaxy that would trigger the destruction of the galaxy and create a gateway in which it can safely enter our Universe.
To combat this nightmarish threat, Darkseid and Highfather have summoned a group of heroes including: Superman, Batman, John Stewart (who is portrayed more like Guy Gardner in this mini-series than his normal self), Starfire, Adam Strange, and Martian Manhunter to team up with New Gods Orion, Forager, and Lightray to save the four worlds. But while the heroes try to save the Universe, the villainous Darkseid begins hatching his own secret back-up plan to stop the Anti-Life Entity by recruiting the villainous Demon to serve as a living power battery to try and enslave the Anti-Life Entity (or at the very least, acquire a sample of the Anti-Life Entity’s life-force for future schemes).
The book contains some early artwork from Mike Mignola, who later rose to fame with his creator-owned Hellboy series. The writing is classic Starlin. Jim crafts a well-written cosmic storyline and does seem to “get†the Darkseid character in this story. We see Darkseid as an evil genius who is willing to manipulate, make alliances, and connive his way into getting whatever he wants.
The only main problem with “The Cosmic Odyssey†is in regards to the subplot of John Stewart’s failure to save one of the targeted worlds. The interplay of John and Martian Manhunter over his failure, and the sheer arrogance displayed by John during his and Martian Manhunter’s mission, is out of place given John Stewart character. John’s role comes off more like it was written for Guy Gardner, who was at the time a key member of the Justice League at the time. Luckily, the storyline did result in the extremely underrated “Green Lantern: Mosaic†series which had John trying to redeem himself by becoming the guardian of an alien world filled with alien refugees.
The Bottom Line
Jesse: In conclusion, “The Cosmic Odyssey†is worth picking up for two big reasons: Mike Mignola’s artwork and Jim Starlin’s, King of the Cosmic Super-Hero genre, writing of Darkseid. It’s highly recommended.
Nick: If you’re a fan of Mignola’s art in Hellboy, get this book. Like me, you won’t be disappointed. For the casual fan, there are other big “crossovers†that are worth spending your money on. I knew, getting into this, that it would be a big, fun cosmic battle, so my expectations were met. Just don’t go into this looking for Watchmen-like storytelling.
The Final Ratings
Nick: 6
Jesse: 10
