"Hahahaha!! Try it again! Come closer! Hurl your bolts so Kalibak can smother them with laughter!"

It's New Gods #11, the final issue, that gives us today's Fourth World Panel:

That's another great example of the sheer power Kirby could evoke with his art. Damn, I love the way the entire panel seems to be exploding. And here's one more, since I can't resist:

The exaggeration of the body there is what gets me. The legs are spread ridiculously far apart, the arms are stretched out to the point that they're almost poking the reader in the face; it's all about the emphasis on speed and motion. Crazy, but really cool.

So, this being the final issue, we've got the final showdown between Orion and Kalibak, and it's a doozy, although first Lightray decides to take on the hairy guy and gets his ass handed to him. Seriously, Kalibak beats the living shit out of him:

I imagine he survived, since the Black Racer didn't take him, but we never see him again in the issue after getting a savage beating. Instead, we focus on Kalibak nearly doing the same to Orion, since he's getting a power boost from Desaad, who, like an addict, is siphoning an emotional high off the conflict. This leads to another great moment, as Darkseid realizes what's going on and grimly gets up from his observation seat to take care of things:

Then he coldly erases Desaad from existence (at least, I think so; I know Desaad turns up later in other DC books, but I don't know if he ever did in Kirby-written comics):

It's a chilling moment, especially since we've seen that the two of them are very old friends, and even plotted together to allow Darkseid to rise to power on Apokolips.

And then it's the final showdown between the two sons of Darkseid (which is the other revelation here, that Kalibak is also Darkseid's son, although it's tossed off in an early panel like it's a minor revelation), giving us another great moment as the Black Racer comes for one of them:

Damn, I love that; New Gods is where Kirby was at his most operatic, and this is a great example. What a scene.

So that's it for this portion of the Fourth World saga, although while it's a resolution to some of the plots, it's obviously not the end, as characters continue to talk about the prophecy of Darkseid and his son having a final showdown, which I think we eventually get to see in The Hunger Dogs. I'll find out when I get there, I guess.

Next: "The Greatest Show Off Earth!" It's all Mister Miracle all the time, at least until sometime in the 80s. I'll take what I can get.