WHO COUNTS IN COUNTDOWN? – Episode #27 – The Forager Okay, so there you are, reading Countdown #28, and all of the sudden this red and white character with antennae and wings flies from out of nowhere and kidnaps Jimmy Olsen. In this week's issue, she convinces him to help her figure out why all the New Gods are dropping like flies. Don't know who she is? Well, don't let it bug you, honey! Comb the back issues if you want – but it's not necessary, because the Pulse has already done that and is here to give you the buzz about the Forager.
Forager is a character originally created by the late, great Jack Kirby for his wild "Fourth World" series of comics for DC back in the early 1970s. Specifically, Forager first appeared in New Gods #9 – 10 (Jul/Aug – Sep/Oct 1972), and was ostensibly part of the race appropriately called "The Bugs". Kirby clearly intended to be a commentary on intolerance and race relations during the late 60s/early 70s, because even on the idyllic planet of New Genesis this race of Bugs had long been subjected to persecution and genocide.
The Bugs – including Forager - were a sentient insectoid race living under the surface of the planet New Genesis. The Rulers of New Genesis had long claimed the Bugs to be Darkseid's mutant creations who were sent to New Genesis to pillage the planet's food supplies. To address this problem – High Father and the other New Genesis leaders said – the group called the Monitors was formed. (No relation to the Monitors appearing in Countdown, but their missions appear similar.) The job of the Monitors was to exterminate the race of Bugs, lest they ravage the food supplies of New Genesis. We later found out that this story was less than truthful.
The first appearance of Forager was, naturally, the best. Kirby vividly painted the distinction between the Bugs and the Gods of New Genesis, when first we saw Forager and fellow provisionless bugs stealing food from the New Gods' storehouses. They are attacked by the Monitors and most didn't make it out alive – illustrating the desperate straits the bugs suffered compared to their deific counterparts. As the best scavenger of his race, Forager naturally survives the assault, but unlike his hive-minded compatriots he later chooses to eat alone.
We next learned, when he removed his red papier-mâché headdress, that he is not bug-like at all, but very human in appearance. In fact, it is implied that he was displaced as a child from the wholesome surface-race of New Genesis. He was also unique from the rest of her race in that he was taken under the "wing" of the Prime One, the society's patriarchal counterpart to the "Queen Widow". When the Prime One grants Forager a moment away from the "colony noise", the latter asks his mentor, "Why am I not like the others…?" Prime One answered that it was, "because you ask questions, Forager: And what we see as "living", you see as courage, loyalty, fondness… brotherhood!"
It wouldn't be a superhero comic without the conflict between good and evil, and the "evil" in this issue was played by Mantis, who was rallying the bugs to attack New Genesis. Being smarter than the average Bug, Forager sensed that this is a set up that would result in the extermination of the Bug race. He caught the next Boom Tube to New York, to enlist the aid of Orion – as advised by Prime One before he was led to his sacrifice at the feet of the his Queen Widow. (Long story – but they're bugs, you get the idea.)
Despite his inherent prejudices against Bugs, Orion and Lightray helped out and save the day. Orion learned a lesson in tolerance, and everybody was happy.
Well, except for Jack Kirby and DC Comics. New Gods folded after another two issues, along with its companion Fourth World book, The Forever People. (Mr. Miracle lasted through Issue #18.) Both parties agreed that the great experiment had failed, allegedly because of lackluster sales. We won't debate the validity of such claims, but leave it with the fact that Kirby's Fourth World stories remained unfinished.
Until six years later, in 1978, when DC decided to give the characters of the New Gods – including Forager – another shot. They continued the numbering with #13 and renamed the title Return of the New Gods. The series was a staggering failure – possibly because DC failed to capture the magic of what made Kirby's original stories unique and interesting. As for Forager, he appeared in every issue but, save for one passage where he freed Orion and Jezebelle from a deathtrap, he was about as useless as a three-legged dog. So, the less said about this brief series, the better. (Except to say that the Return of the New Gods was also canceled – after eight issues – and the story arc had to be wrapped up in DC's new anthology format for Adventure #459 -#460, Oct-Dec 1978.)
Apparently, the debacle of Return of the New Gods soured everybody on a terrific concept of the New Gods for another decade. But in 1988, Jim Starlin wrote and Mike Mignola penciled a four-part prestige format saga called Cosmic Odyssey. In this story, the supremely evil Darkseid learned that something out there was more powerful than he and held the secret of the Anti-Life Formula he was always so hot after. An odd alliance was formed between Darkseid of the planet Apokolips and his counterpart Highfather on the idyllic sister planet of New Genesis.
The uneasy allies enlist the aid of Superman, Batman, Green Lantern (John Stewart), Martian Manhunter, and Starfire on Earth, to defeat the ominously-named Anti-Life Force. Guest-stars abounded in this story which was pretty decent – in spite of some shaky moments. (Such as John Stewart brashly bounding in to attack his foe, but setting off the doomsday device on Xanshi, blowing up that planet with its millions of inhabitants. Martian Manhunter scolded him like a schoolgirl: "Thanks to your arrogance and stupidity, I have now seen two worlds die. I will never forgive you for this." Boo Hoo: Stewart moped around for a while, but got over it by the end of the last issue. Ah well, all in a day's cosmic destruction!)
In the end, Forager was the one who saved the galaxy, by smashing the device intended to destroy Earth with his shield (garbage can lid, Frisbee..?) In this tale, Starlin did manage to capture some of the tension between Orion and Forager, and address a bit of the prejudices that Jack Kirby had originally touched on. However, as the title implied this was a Cosmic Odyssey, so social issues and personal interactions between Bugs and New Gods was not really the point.
It was the point, however, of DC's next stab at a New Gods series, which premiered in early 1989. At the end of Cosmic Odyssey, Highfather assigns the blinkered Orion the task of returning Forager's remains to the Insect Empire, to teach him "tolerance". Highfather used the power of positive exposition to explain it in New Gods #3 (Apr 1989): Orion's "hatred of bugs is infamous. But I saw this dark passion growing daily and it frightened me. Orion is our greatest weapon against Apokolips's evil forces. I felt all his animosities should be channeled exclusively in that direction. So I hoped some quiet time learning about the Insect Empire might extinguish that particular fiery hatred."
It worked! Orion showed up on the next page with a contingent of the Insect in-crowd, declaring, "I bring you a royal entourage, who – like me, wish to end the senseless hostilities that fester between our two peoples." All in attendance are in favor, except "The Commander", who is a pompous, bigoted ass, who would give General Thunderbolt Ross a run for his money: "Bugs fighting by the sides of gods! Perposterous!" He and the Insect's new Prime One agree to a duel between their respective champions. The New Genesis contingent chose Lonar, Head of Off-Planet Relations, while the Insect Empire group reveals their champion: The new Forager!
What ensued is a pretty decent comic book battle that lasted five pages, but still kept the reader's attention long enough that they didn't feel like speed-reading through it. The New Genesis representative prevailed, but was so impressed with this new Forager that he declared that he would be proud to fight along such a champion. Orion proposed that New Genesis cede some surface land for the Insect Empire to settle, but "The Commander" loses control, shouting: "Without us killing them off, bugs multiply so rapidly that they'd overrun the planet within a year!"
This leads to an altercation which reveals the great lie which had been hidden by Highfather and his New Genesis High Council: The Bugs were not created by Darkseid to overrun New Genesis. In fact, they were hybrids of gods with insects created by the people of New Genesis themselves, to counter Apokolips' giant biological mutants early on in the war between the two planets. The Bugs were supposed to be set loose on Apokolips to destroy the planet's food resources, thereby ending that war.
Before they could be used, a contingent of Bugs escaped their gestation facility. They settled in the forests, began to reproduce, and formed colonies similar to anthills and bee hives. Knowing their project had gotten out of hand and fearing public repercussion, the Ruling Council of New Genesis issued a "Disinformation Communiqué", which (mis-)stated that the Bugs were another one of Darkseid's biological weapons, evolved from "micro-life" and spread over the planet's surface by Apokoliptian forces. The Monitors and new pesticides were developed to exterminate the Bugs, without harming New Genesis crops. These techniques limited the Insect Empire population, but did not eliminate them.
The following issue (New Gods v.2 #4, May 1989), Orion and Forager together foiled a plan by Mantis to control outcast insect tribes who had settled on Earth. (An interesting plot device was that because of their tolerance for radiation, Darkseid promised the insects the remains of the Earth after he decimated it with nuclear devices.)
In the heat of the battle, Forager sprayed Mantis in the eyes with bug juice and he flung her through a cinderblock wall. Believing his new bug-buddy to be dead, Orion flies into a rage and transported the nuclear warheads to New Genesis, where it decimated the Insect population.
Forager vowed never again to trust Orion. Looking back, this was probably a mistake, because she did not have any significant appearances for almost 20 years. That is, until she briefly appeared in Countdown #40, spying on Darkseid to see if he had anything to do with the death of Lightray. Now, she has enlisted the aid of Jimmy Olsen to help her determine why the New Gods are mysteriously dying.
NEXT WEEK ON WHO COUNTS IN COUNTDOWN? Countdown #26 will mark not only the halfway point in the series, but the issue where the name changes to Countdown to Final Crisis. Now we'll start to get a clearer picture of exactly what it is we are counting down to! Next week, we'll see what direction that turns this series, Who Counts in Countdown? Posts: 20789 | From: PA | Registered: Aug 2002
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