The New Gods #7
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeNew Gods #7 contains 'The Pact!', widely regarded as the single most essential chapter of Jack Kirby's entire Fourth World saga — a 24-page flashback that functions as a creation myth for the DC cosmos, revealing how the eternal war between New Genesis and Apokolips began, how Izaya transformed into the pacifist Highfather after his wife Avia's murder, and how the titular truce sealed the fates of both Orion and Scott Free (Mister Miracle) through the exchange of their infant sons. The issue also delivers the first appearances of Steppenwolf, Queen Heggra, Avia, and the origins of Orion, Mister Miracle, and Highfather in a single, dense issue — a concentration of mythos-building that no other single Bronze Age DC comic matches. Critics Jason Sacks and Keith Dallas have described 'The Pact' as a creation myth in comics form that doubles as a Vietnam-era meditation on the moral costs of war, and some Kirby fans consider the three-issue arc of New Gods #6–8 the peak of his artistic career. The issue's narrative — parents sacrificing their children to forge an uneasy peace, with Darkseid immediately scheming to break it — laid the structural foundation for decades of DC storytelling, from Grant Morrison's Final Crisis to the DC Extended Universe films.
In "The Pact!", Jack Kirby delivers a foundational moment in the saga of the New Gods, tracing the origins of the bitter conflict between New Genesis and Apokolips through the pivotal agreement forged between Izaya and Darkseid. With Kirby’s dynamic artwork and Mike Royer’s sharp inks, this 1972 issue—presented in a striking cover by Kirby and Royer—lays the mythic groundwork for the cosmic struggle that will define generations of DC stories.
In "The Pact!", the epic conflict between New Genesis and Apokolips is traced back to its roots, revealing the fateful agreement forged between Highfather [Izaya the Inheritor] and Darkseid that briefly halted their endless war. With the fate of two worlds hanging in the balance, figures like Metron, Granny Goodness, and Scott Free [Mister Miracle] stand at the crossroads of destiny, as the legacy of peace—and its fragile foundation—is laid bare.
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Jack Kirby served simultaneously as writer, penciller, and editor of New Gods, having arrived at DC in 1970 after leaving Marvel, where he felt his contributions had gone uncredited and undercompensated. By issue #7, Kirby had replaced his earlier inker Vince Colletta with Mike Royer, whose faithful, clean line work is credited by Kirby Museum commentators as giving 'The Pact!' its full dramatic weight. Kirby himself cross-promoted the issue in the letters column of Mister Miracle #6, alerting readers that New Gods #7 would answer the burning question of how Scott Free and Orion were connected to the larger Fourth World mythology. An unused, unfinished splash page apparently intended for this issue — showing pre-transformation Izaya confronting Darkseid — was later published in Jack Kirby Quarterly #11, suggesting the story underwent at least some revision before publication.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Steppenwolf (Darkseid's uncle and military general from Apokolips), created by Jack Kirby; cover date February–March 1972, on-sale date February 10, 1972.
- First appearance and death of Queen Heggra (Darkseid's mother) and Avia (Highfather's wife, mother of Mister Miracle); both die within the issue.
- First appearance of Tigra (a character from Apokolips) also occurs in this issue.
- The issue provides the simultaneous origin of Orion, Mister Miracle (Scott Free), and Highfather (Izaya the Inheritor), making it the backstory engine for two separate ongoing Fourth World titles at once.
- The lead story, 'The Pact!' (24 pages), is pencilled by Jack Kirby with inks by Mike Royer; a two-page backup 'Vykin the Black!' features Vykin of the Forever People, noted by some commentators as a rare early example of a Black superhero headlining a DC backup story.
- The issue also reprints a Joe Simon/Jack Kirby Manhunter story ('The Legend of the Silent Bear') from Adventure Comics #76 (1942) and a two-page science-fiction reprint from Real Fact Comics #2.
- Steppenwolf is killed by Highfather (Izaya) within his debut issue; he was later retroactively resurrected in DC canon via Apokoliptian technology, explaining subsequent appearances.
- The story has been reprinted multiple times: in New Gods vol. 2 #4, in the 1998 Jack Kirby's New Gods black-and-white collection, in the 2007–2008 Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus (Vol. 3), in the 2008 Countdown Special: New Gods #1 one-shot alongside Forever People #1 and Mister Miracle #1, in the Eaglemoss DC Comics Graphic Novel Collection #85 (2016), and in the 2018 New Gods by Jack Kirby collected edition.
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Adventure Comics #76 (1942), Real Fact Comics #2 (1946)
Reprinted in Mighty Comic #112 (1976), Année Zéro #4 (1979), New Gods #4 (1984), Jack Kirby's New Gods #[nn] (1998), New Gods #[nn] (1998), Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus #3 (2007), Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus #3 (2008), Countdown Special: The New Gods #1 (2008), DC Comics Presents: Darkseid War 100-Page Super Spectacular #1 (2016), DC Comics Graphic Novel Collection #85 (2016), The Black Racer and Shilo Norman Special #[nn] (2017), The Fourth World Omnibus by Jack Kirby #[nn] (2018), New Gods by Jack Kirby #[nn] (2018)
Key issues in The New Gods
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