When artist and writer Jack Kirby left Marvel in 1970, his place in the history of comic books was already secure. Over the previous nine years, Kirby had co-created the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Hulk, the Silver Surfer, the Inhumans, Black Panther, and several other iconic Marvel heroes and villains.

In 1971, Kirby jumped to Marvel’s rival, DC Comics, and he quickly introduced readers to The Fourth World, his epic tale of The New Gods from New Genesis and the evil gods who inhabited the dying planet called Apokolips.

Earlier this week, 3D animator and comic book fan Mario Escudero paid tribute to Kirby’s Fourth World saga by releasing a two and a half-minute animated fan film starring Orion of the New Gods. In the short, Orion invades Apokolips and takes on a legion of Parademons when his presence is detected.

Orion – A Fan Short Film from Mario Escudero on Vimeo.

Escudero’s Orion film ends on the promise of a much larger fight between the title character and the Parademons that we would have loved to have seen in this short. Although some of the character movements are a little stiff, Escudero’s Parademons were impressive and it was also enjoyable to see his take on the Boom Tube technology and Orion’s Mother Box.

Now for some further context on behalf of all of the non-comic book readers out there. Orion is the son of Darkseid, the ruler of Apokolips. However, Highfather — the leader of New Genesis — exchanged his son (Scott Free a.k.a. Mister Miracle) for Orion as part of a peace agreement with Darkseid. Therefore, Orion was raised on New Genesis and he became a hero to its people.

Comic fans, what did you think of the Orion short film? Activate a Boom Tube and share your opinions in the comment section below!