What was sad about that series is that a random review of the first two issues turned out to portray the character way better than the series he was reviewing. This was early on, and you could see the (fairly reasonable) hope that the whole nine-panel format was the trap itself, that at the end we'd see Scott break free of it and into the flow of the traditional comic spreads in a brilliant visual backdrop to a triumphant conclusion.
Obviously, that's not at all what we got.
That’s an incredibly well-conceived bit of propaganda that Kirby used to spell out, as eloquently as possible, exactly what Darkseid is all about. DARKSEID IS… What? Everything. All that matters. It’s the guiding principle of his empire, and the ultimate goal of the Anti-Life Equation. If Darkseid achieves it, free will ceases to exist. All that is… All that matters… will be Darkseid. We see the slogan on signs all over Apokolips in the original series, especially in Armagetto, the slum in which Scott Free grew up. And it repeats here, in his lowest moments.
Darkseid is.
These panels are peppered throughout the first two issues, with increasing frequency as you progress.
Darkseid is.
They play as a sort of Greek chorus to the action…
Darkseid is.
…interrupting the flow of events but also commenting on it…
Darkseid is.
…until they become stifling.
Darkseid is.
Claustrophobic.
Darkseid is.
Suffocating.
Darkseid is.
Finally, they take over the whole page, and seem…
Darkseid is.
Inescapable.
Darkseid is.
But we already know what Mister Miracle thinks about inescapable traps, don’t we?
What was sad about that series is that a random review of the first two issues turned out to portray the character way better than the series he was reviewing. This was early on, and you could see the (fairly reasonable) hope that the whole nine-panel format was the trap itself, that at the end we'd see Scott break free of it and into the flow of the traditional comic spreads in a brilliant visual backdrop to a triumphant conclusion.
Obviously, that's not at all what we got.
Bet that review felt bittersweet given the specific twist at the end.