Darkseid Oversize Special #1

Writers: Mark Evanier, Paul Levitz
Artists: Scott Kollins, Phil Hester
Colorists: Dave McCaig, Dave Stewart
Published by: DC Comics

Darkseid. What can you say about him that has already been said multiple times. He’s the ruler of Apokolips, bain in the side of the New Gods and Superman, and pretty much a slew of other heroes, and he is probably one of the most recognizable creations by Jack Kirby during his tenure at DC Comics.

In this special, Evanier explores what life must be like living on Apokolips under the boot heel of Darkseid and he does so by exploring the life of Makayla, a woman who had the courage to escape from Granny Goodness’ orphanage, and how since that time, she has tried to mount a revolution against Darkseid with the help of her two fellow escapees. Throughout the issue, we learn what it must take to survive within the confines of a hell like Apokolips for an escapee, but also about the courage of this woman to take on a literal god that once he’s found her, will kill her without a second thought.

We also get to see the other side of the equation by exploring how Darkseid operates, and how he is dealing with this escape. We learn that it has already been three years since Makayla made her escape and that Darkseid has gone through many a parademon trying to find her. So much so, that he re-enlists three of the female furies, Lashina, Stompa and Mad Harriet, to finally put an end to it. Because the last thing he needs is another escapee from Granny Goodness’ orphanage to rise up against him. The last one to do so being Scott Free, Mister Miracle.

In the backup story, we get a short tale about OMAC, the One Man Army Corps, and his dealings with the GPA, the Global Peace Authority. It’s a very short story by the team of Levitz and Hester and serves as a brief introduction to the classic OMAC and is connection to Brother Eye.

And to conclude, in the final Grabbers by Kirby himself, we get another story from Supertown and “The All-Seeing Eye” from Tales of the Unexpected #12. Again, both are very fun stories and are great examples of the King’s work.