Category: Jack Kirby
Last article published: 26 September 2020
This is the 81st post under this label
So I was reading Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus recently and I was especially taken by a New God I never see referenced called Seagrin, who shows up in New Gods #4 quite dead, I'm afraid, killed by the Deep Six. What he was doing in Earth's oceans exactly isn't clear - other than perhaps tracking these malevolent deep-sea invaders - but dead he was, and it grieved Orion, and they left it at that. But who WAS Seagrin? A "gentle warrior" of New Genesis, and if the New Gods are to have any kind of indirect relationship to the Gods of Earthly pantheons, he's their Poseidon. A New God Justice League would need Seagrin to fill the Aquaman slot, and they even sport the same colors. What little art exists on the character never actually shows us his very strange helmet dead on.
I wonder what he WOULD look like with it... Then, Mother Box sends him to the Source in a funeral pyre worthy of a Norse god! (Sorry, New York harbor.)
And that's it. He's not seen for 46 years, and then, true Kirby fan Walt Simonson wrote and drew a short little story about him and Orion on a deep sea mission on Apokolips for the New Gods Special, as part of Kirby's 100th Anniversary!
He's portrayed as a rather chill and cavalier New God who takes things lightly and dispenses wisdom naturally. Also note the lack of helmet, so it WASN'T needed to breathe underwater. No accouterments needed for Seagrin! Seagrin can breathe in even the poisonous waters of Apokolips! He fears nothing! He'll just take a shower afterwards!
He is SEAGRIN! And though we hardly knew him, WE MISS HIM!
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