GENESIS RUN: 4 issues 1997
KEY CREATORS: John Byrne (writer) and Ron Wagner (artist)
OUTLINE: A plot by Darkseid reveals the true nature of heroes' powers
STANDOUT ISSUE: None
DUD ISSUE: #4 was the worst of a bad lot
OVERALL: This is the worst mini-series of all time. Wagner's art seems sketchy and rough. The colouring is mostly limited to the various shades found in diarrhea. And then there's the writing. Very dull, unexciting, has a mystery main villain (other than Darkseid, who's prominent throughout) who upon being revealed in #4....walks around a little). And then there's the premise: most heroes powers are a side effect of energies from the Source traveling across the universe and then bouncing back. This is problematic in two senses: it connects everything a little too neatly. DC is a great tapestry of vastly different elements. While it allows for some connections it works best when most elements don't have a common origin. And of course this creates the metaphor the Kirby created the DC Universe. Had this been the Marvel Universe this would have been a brilliant move since Kirby is one of the two most important people responsible for the Marvel Universe. Since the DC Universe is the vision of numerous creators, with no one person really responsible for creating the universe, the metaphor, intended or not, doesn't work. There are other bad elements, but these are the ones I can most quickly conjure up from memory.
RECOMMENDED OR NOT? Buy it only if you plan to toss it into the recycling bin so the paper can be used on a worthier project.
CONTINUITY NOTES: More so that any other previous crossover minis, contradictions abound between the main title and the titles this series connects with.