User:Toodiesel/Orion (DC Comics comic book)

Orion was a series pencilled and written by Walt Simonson, centered around Jack Kirby's Fourth World character, Orion. It was lettered by John Workman. Bob Wiacek would provide the inks on occasion, while Simonson would do the bulk of the inking. Colors were provided by Tatjana Wood and Sherilyn Van Valkenburgh. In the publishing continuity of Jack Kirby's Fourth World, it was published after John Byrne's "Jack Kirby's Fourth World" series ended.

Characters
To flesh out the series, characters such as Fourth World stalwarts Lightray, Darkseid, Desaad, and Kalibak, in addition to lesser used characters such as Tigra (early on in the series), Mortalla, and The Newsgroup Legion (an update of the Newsboy Legion) often supplied aid or ill intentions to the quick tempered Orion.

Publishing History
Orion ran for 25 issues, from June 2000 to 2002. Issues #15 and #25 were oversized and priced at $3.95 instead of the usual $2.50. Sales of the title would see a gradual decline in preorders, averaging under 14,000 copies mark during the second half of the book's run. Sample sales are 14,372 copies for issue #15, and 11,891 for the last issue, #25. John Byrne filled in as penciller for the main stories in issues 13 and 14, though Simonson did provide writing and pencilling duties on backup stories in both of those issues (although not under the banner of Tales of the New Gods), with Wiacek inking.

The Gates of Apokolips
Issues 1-5 were reprinted by DC Comics in the trade paperback The Gates of Apokolips. Also included as reprints were portions from the Secret Origins of Super-Villains 80-Page Giant, issue #1 and the Legends of the DC Universe 80-Page Giant, issue #2.

Tales of the New Gods
A backup that ran consistently in the Orion book was Tales of the New Gods. Simonson invited fellow artists and, on occasion, writers to provide a short story often supplementing the issue's main action.

Tales of the New Gods was a backup feature in Walt Simonson's Orion series for DC Comics. Walt would write the story, and fellow artists would, appropriately, provide the artwork. On rare occasions, other writers would provide the script/story. If no writer is listed, then it is assumed Simonson has written the work.