Think of your favorite Marvel character, and it’s even money that they were co-created byJack Kirby. From the Fantastic Four to the Hulk to the X-Men to the Avengers to the Black Panther, Kirby’s influence defines the Marvel Universe as fans know it. It’s therefore shocking that in his opinion,“the most evil character ever created"belongs to a totally different comic universe.
In an interview shared by theJack Kirby Museum and Research Center, Kirby reflects on what made his stories so popular. For an example, Kirby turns to the New Gods - a franchise he created for DC Comics in the early ’70s. In the process, he clarifies that he sees the all-conqueringDarkseidas,“the most evil character ever created. I can tell you, he was the epitome of all evil.”
However, Kirby notes that despite his quest to control all forms of life, evenDarkseid has some realism to him. In Kirby’s version of the New Gods mythology, Darkseid refuses to hurt his heroic son Orion. Kirby notes that despite being enemies, Darkseid still had no true desire to hurt his son, and that when they inevitably clashed, the two would"somehow find themselves in other situations in which this confrontation vanishes.“Kirby notes that:
That’s one of the truths that I always knew existed, a father will never hurt his own son. So that was the core of the New Gods and, of course, it worked, it was true!
Darkseid Is an Epic Villain Founded on One Emotional Truth
Kirby Found Ways to Ground Even the Most Flamboyant Characters
Today, Darkseid is seen as DC’s greatest villain, pursuing the Anti-Life Equation as he attempts to gain control of all life. Darkseid is such an influential villain that even Thanos - one of modern pop-culture’s most talked-about villains -was originally designed to mimic Darkseid’s aesthetic. There are few comic fans who would argue that any other supervillain has the presence and significance of Darkseid.
A foundational aspect of Darkseid’s lore is that - in order to forge a peace treaty with the benevolent gods of New Genesis - Darkseid and Highfather traded sons, with each raising the other’s progeny. While Darkseid’s son Orion is afflicted with a monstrous temper he has to fight to keep under control, he nevertheless becomes a hero, standing against his evil father.
It’s indeed noteworthy that even Darkseid has no desire to hurt his son, especially because the character is a more specific creation than simply being a god of evil. Throughout Kirby’s stories and his later appearances, Darkseid is treated as an embodiment of fascism - an ideology that directly affected Kirby due to his experiences during WWII.
Kirby’s clear-eyed moral perspective helped create a villain who has always felt more textured than any other comic-book bad guy. Darkseid is a primordial evil without feeling simple, individual without being sympathetic.Jack Kirby knowingly built the New Godson the foundation of a very specific observation about human nature, leading to the creation of one of the most iconic villains of all time,Darkseidof Apokolips.
Source:Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center
