When DC Comics relaunched its comic line at the end of this past summer, their entire line of heroes and villains were given revamped looks courtesy of the art of Jim Lee. The designs are more futuristic and practical than the tights and underwear-on-the-outside looks of the past. We’ve seen many of the main players in the new DC Universe but the villainous Darkseid has only been hinted at in the pages of ‘Justice League’. Today, DC revealed the villain’s new look that will appear in the fourth issue of the team series that will hit shelves on December 21st. Like the rest of the revamped costumes, Darkseid’s new duds are more detailed and futuristic. I like it!

Darkseid in his classic threads (left) and the New 52 design.

Darkseid (one of the greatest comic villains of all time) was created in 1970 by the incomparable Jack “The King” Kirby. First featured in ‘Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen’, Darkseid was one of Kirby’s “New Gods”. The New Gods are a pantheon of godlike beings from the twin planets of New Genesis and Apokolips. New Genesis is a utopia of science and peace while Apokolips is a hellish realm of slavery, violence, and pain. Darkseid is the ruler of Apokolips. As harsh as the realm over which he governs, Darkseid gained his throne after murdering his own brother and mother.

As ruler of Apokolips, Darkseid became obsessed with the “anti-life equation”, which was rumored to be able to destroy all free will in the universe. Near the end of DC’s previous universe before the New 52 relaunch, Darkseid succeeded in solving the anti-life equation. This led to an epic chain of events that ended with Batman killing Darkseid. Not one to stay dead for long, it was made apparent as soon as ‘Justice League’ #1, that Darkseid would be alive, well, and causing trouble for the new universe of the updated DCU.