Himon
1066 - Himon and the New Gods come into being on a higher plane of existence on the twin planets of Apokolips and New Genesis after Ragnarök, the fall of Asgard. Himon is the god of truth, but is the first to set down that role to instead build a home for all on New Genesis.
1167 - Himon learns of Darkseid's coup on Apokolips. He begins creating Boom Tube pathways across the planets that only he can control.
1752 - Himon spends more time on Apokolips as the pact of non-aggression shifts the war between planets to a cold war, knowing that the blossom of hope can still be found within the people there.
74 years ago - Himon leaves New Genesis, building his hidden sanctuary among the Lowlies of Apokolips, teaching it's people how to foster hope.
66 years ago - Himon's sanctuary is found by Auralie, a place where she can dance.
64 years ago - Himon's sanctuary is found by Scott Free. He begins to mentor him in Escapology and in building a Mother Box, teaching him how to have hope even on Apokolips.
60 years ago - Himon's sanctuary is raided. Big Barda arrives early to pull Auralie out before she's found. Himon manages to phase most of his followers out to save them, but Scott Free stays to help others escape and is captured and imprisoned.
52 years ago - Himon's wife is killed by Kalibak. His daughter Bekka joins him on Apokolips, her powers helping to keep them hidden.
20 years ago - Himon saves Orion when he is gunned down while trying to free his mother Tigra, hiding him while he recuperates with the help of Bekka. She helps hide him as he tries again, this time with a distraction by Lightray. When they return with Tigra, Himon helps them escape to New Genesis, telling Bekka to go with them as she clearly belongs with Orion.
16 years ago - Himon travels to New Genesis after the death of Tigra to give his blessing for the marriage of Bekka & Orion, but returns to Apokolips.
9 years ago - Himon gives Big Barda a motherbox. When Scott Free escapes he opens him a boom tube to Earth. Although he is bombarded with Mass-Gravity, Scott finds the will to survive and escapes to Earth.
4 years ago - Himon helps Jimmy Olsen escape Apokolips for New Genesis with news of the coming Parademon wave invasion of Earth.
Himon is a character with a deceptively small number of appearances. He's very rarely, if ever, appeared outside of the Kirby-penned Fourth World tales. If other writers have used him, it's almost always in some sort of flashback. His role in the world of the New Gods, you'd think, is very minimal.
In practice, however, not only is he quite possibly the single most important voice among all the New Gods, but I would take it one step further. While Dan Turpin is often described as Jack Kirby's self-insert in his DC work, he's more of a typical Kirby-style tough guy that many writers have gravitated to to represent everything they love about the king of comics. In reality, I would like to offer that Himon is a much more deliberate and purposeful self-insert by Jack. This is the character that actually says what Jack himself truly believes.
In practice, however, not only is he quite possibly the single most important voice among all the New Gods, but I would take it one step further. While Dan Turpin is often described as Jack Kirby's self-insert in his DC work, he's more of a typical Kirby-style tough guy that many writers have gravitated to to represent everything they love about the king of comics. In reality, I would like to offer that Himon is a much more deliberate and purposeful self-insert by Jack. This is the character that actually says what Jack himself truly believes.
Himon's Comic HistoryHimon shows up for the first time in the flashback issues of Mister Miracle as we learn how Scott actually escaped Apokolips. Himon is a teacher and inventor from New Genesis, the man responsible for inventing the Mother Boxes. He has a secret refuge hidden on Apokolips where he is showing the people there how to think for themselves, how to embrace their own capacity for hope. It's an incredibly compelling concept, and I would argue is the place where Jack Kirby most directly stated the entire thesis of the Fourth World. Later, as Scott finally does escape from Apokolips, crawling through a field of crushing Mass-Gravity Atoms, Himon and Darkseid both watch him, bearing witness to, I believe, the most important moment in the entire New Gods saga.
Himon has appeared in a few issues presenting flashbacks to Apokolips, but he would ultimately be killed in the pages of the questionably-canon story Hunger Dogs, sacrificing himself so that Orion and his daughter Bekka can flee Apokolips to safety. I have a lot of affection for this story, but I do understand that it's generally considered to be a weird asterisk on the history of the Fourth World. |
Our Himon StoryHimon is a surprisingly important character in the backstory of all three major New Gods heroes, Orion, Barda, and Scott Free. Getting their stories correct means we have to pay extra-close attention to how we use Himon, when he is on New Genesis vs Apokolips, when his daughter joins him, and when & how he interacts with each character. The biggest change we needed to execute for our timeline to work was to actually make his interaction with Orion happen EARLIER, with him sending Bekka away to New Genesis, while he stays behind. I love the idea that the reason he's able to live on Apokolips is that he is too great an escape artist for them to ever catch him, beautifully setting up his later mentorship for Scott Free.
His work to teach the people of Apokolips is such a wonderful concept, suggesting that the true means to fight an evil regime isn't actually fighting it, but teaching the people that it exploits to love themselves, taking away it's power. I wonder if that would be relevant today at all... |