Posted - December 27, 2023

Forever People 8

Okay, prepare for some Jack Kirby style weirdness. And yes, I meant that as a compliment.

The preamble to the issue shows us an entire town that has been bought out by one man. And in the middle of this town is this guy's horrendously big mansion. Who is this guy? We'll get to that shortly. But there's more.

Underneath the mansion there is a cult, yes, a cult. The members dress in horrifying masks. This cult begins taking out the mansion's security personnel in their search for the owner, the big shot who bought the town.

Here is a panel showing the assault on the mansion security.

Wait a minute, maybe I'm wrong, because several panels later, the owner, Mister Bates seems to be in league with the cult, known as the Sect.

The Forever People, beautifully surrounded by Kirby dots, arrive on the scene. From last issue, they were looking for the missing Serifan.

Bullets start flying but Big Bear makees out like the Hulk.

It turns out that the Forever People don''t have to find Serifan; through the mother box it is Serafin who finds them.

Soon enough they meet Mister Bates.

He gives them an order and they start behaving in spite of themselves.

Bates turns out to be another wielder of the anti-life equation. Unlike Sonny Sumo he's a douche. He turns the Forever People to the Sect.

Bates, as head of the sect, goes for the old-fashioned goal of ruling the world.

The Sect leader places a strange crown on top of Bate's head and this happens:

The Sect don't plan to make Bates their ally after all.

But before they can take the Anti-Life equation from the still living Bates, his body starts flying.

It turns out that this flying stunt was perpetrated by the Forever People. More than that, they were never captured; it was all an illusion by Beautiful Dreamer

In the melee, Bates is accidentally killed.

And by accidentally I mean Bear uses him as a human shield.

This is important, because once again the Anti-Life Equation is beyond reach. And the head of the Sect is revealed as . . .

Look at the relationship between Darkseid and the Forever People.

It's a kind of frenemy relationship.

Darkseid banishes the Forever People yet again and once again shows that he does not exactly hate them.

The Forever People find themselves in their Super Cycle and are soon phasing out . . . to somewhere.