[2] As author Marc Flores, who writes under the pen name Ronin Ro,[3] described: The idea of the New Gods had come to Jack years earlier, when he was plotting 90 percent of the "Tales of Asgard" stories in Thor.

[14] Jason Sacks and Keith Dallas say that issue #6, "The Glory Boat", "juxtaposes several of [Kirby's] favorite themes: the conflict between generations, the ways that pacifism is forced to confront violence, and, of course, the continuing battle between Apokolips and New Genesis, all drawn in some of the most spectacular art of his career.

Sacks and Keith said: "While the story can also be read as a commentary and critique of the Vietnam War (as it's all about the ambiguity and moral costs of war), 'The Pact' is a creation myth in comics form, providing readers deeper context about both the struggle between Apokolips and New Genesis and the great sacrifices that have to be made to create peace in the face of overwhelming destruction.

Kirby's production assistant at the time, Mark Evanier, explained: "Folks forget but the New Gods saga was intended to be a limited series ...

Comics historian Les Daniels observed in 1995: "Kirby's mix of slang and myth, science fiction and the Bible, made for a heady brew, but the scope of his vision has endured.

"[18] In 2007, comics writer Grant Morrison commented: "Kirby's dramas were staged across Jungian vistas of raw symbol and storm ...

[7][25][26] The mini-series' final issue was originally intended to include a reprint of New Gods #11 and a new 24-page story which would conclude the series and end with both Darkseid and Orion dead.

[27] Kirby instead turned in a one-off story called "On the Road to Armagetto" which was also rejected, due to the fact that it did not contain a definitive ending to the series.

Written by longtime Kirby assistant Mark Evanier, with co-author and penciler Paris Cullins, this would be the most lengthy New Gods run yet.

[citation needed] Originally written by Tom Peyer and Rachel Pollack, and pencilled by Luke Ross, volume 4 of New Gods ran from October 1995 until February 1997.

Walt Simonson's Orion[broken anchor] series, which continued to host the backup feature "Tales of the New Gods", began in Byrne's Jack Kirby's Fourth World and served as an extension of it.

[citation needed] Taking place in both the yearlong series Countdown to Final Crisis (2007–2008) and its spin-off, Death of the New Gods, written by Jim Starlin,[35][36][37] was a story-arc involving the mysterious deaths of the New Gods across the universe in preparation for the coming storylines in Grant Morrison's Final Crisis, published later in 2008.

By subtly manipulating characters such as Alexander Luthor, Jr.,[38] and Booster Gold[39] to recreate the Multiverse made the Source Wall less impenetrable.

Batman surmises that Orion was in fact killed not of injuries from battling Darkseid, but by a sort of bullet sent backwards in time.

Darkseid spreads the Anti-Life Equation among the human population, creating monstrous slaves out of its victims as he ushers in the Final Crisis of Mankind.

Grant Morrison addressed what he described as "the disconnects that online commentators, sadly, seem to find more fascinating than the stories themselves", by explaining that he provided a rough draft of the first issue, and an outline of the plot, before the writing began on Countdown and Death of the New Gods.

Granny Goodness takes up residence in the Alpha Lantern Kraken, using her to attack the Guardians of the Universe, while DeSaad inhabits the body of Mary Marvel.

The Female Furies themselves are not shown to still exist, but they are recreated using Anti-Life controlled heroes and villains in the forms of Wonder Woman, Batwoman, Catwoman, and Giganta.

[42] In subsequent issues it is revealed that Cyborg's teleportation powers are linked to the Boom Tubes, thanks to upgrades performed by his father utilizing the Mother Box found by the team in their initial adventure, and that every 1,000 times he uses this technology, a glitch in it transports him and his Justice League comrades to Apokolips.

Unlike his encounters in Justice League, this one is far more successful, resulting in the death of that Earth's Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman; in the midst of this war, Power Girl and Huntress somehow traverse into the realm of Prime-Earth.

Their world was also inhabited by colossal beings known as Old Gods, who spent much of their time brawling with each other, feeding off the worship of the 'mudgrubbers', whose lives were often lost in the battles.

After countless eons of infighting proceeding after the fall of the Old World, Darkseid and Highfather would eventually be forced into conflict against their demented father and King of the Old Gods, Yuga Khan.

For a time, both brothers would raise their dead world back from the devastation wreaked by their previous conflicts, dubbing it Genesis with Izaya eventually remarrying, up until for undisclosed reasons Darkseid killed Highfather's new wife away from prying eyes, save those of his sibling's.

[50][51][52][53] New Genesis and Apokolips were created after the destruction of the Old Gods' home planet of Urgrund and respectively seeded with good and evil essences by Balduur and an unnamed sorceress.

Biographer Charles Hatfield writes, "The saga turns out to be not so simple, for Kirby — and this is revealing – blurs the seeming idealized perfection of New Genesis, adding complexity to his gods.

[62] The beings of New Genesis and Apokolips call themselves gods, living outside of normal time and space in an extradimensional realm known as the Fourth World.

For example, if Superman were to travel to Apokolips under his own power, he would be miniature in comparison to the New Gods – Orion remarked that "Earth is but a speck in an air pocket" and that the universe of New Genesis is the "real world".

The New Gods and their concepts have at times played a central role in the DC Universe, in series such as Jim Starlin's Cosmic Odyssey.

"Tales of the New Gods" was a backup feature that began in John Byrne's Jack Kirby's Fourth World, and continued in Walt Simonson's Orion[broken anchor] series.

[72] DC Comics published a Tales of the New Gods trade paperback (ISBN 978-1401216375) in January 2008, which collects all of the back-up stories listed above, a Mark Evanier/Steve Rude Mister Miracle one-shot comic from 1987, and a previously unpublished story by Mark Millar and Steve Ditko originally meant to be printed in the pages of Orion.