THE NEW GODS #6

The top portion of the front cover appears torn away or separated, exposing the interior first page (with visible panel art and dialogue) beneath it, along with rectangular tape-residue staining on the aged, tanned paper stock at the top edge — a major defect affecting cover completeness. There is a vertical crease/fold running through the center of the remaining cover, moderate corner softness at the lower right, and general edge tanning consistent with a book from the early 1970s. The spine shows light stress marks along the left edge (visible through the sleeve). Interior pages beyond the exposed first page and the back cover were not visible in this photo and were not assessed.

The New Gods #6, cover dated January 1972, is part of Jack Kirby's Fourth World epic for DC Comics, following Orion, Lightray, and the cast of New Genesis and Apokolips through the cosmic mythology Kirby built after leaving Marvel. This issue, often remembered by its story title "The Glory Boat," pits Orion and Lightray against Kalibak's monstrous agent Gole and finds Orion clashing with the enigmatic Leviathan amid a shipwreck rescue plot involving the human Sheridan family. Kirby is credited as writer, editor, and penciler, with Joe Simon sharing script credit and Vince Colletta providing inks, a somewhat unusual pairing given Colletta's more typical Silver Age assignments but consistent with DC's production practices of the period.

Within the twelve-issue original run of The New Gods, issue #6 sits in the middle of the series, after the introductory issues that established Orion, Darkseid, and the core cosmology, and before the book's cancellation with issue #11. It carries no first appearances of major continuing characters and is not cited among the Fourth World's landmark issues the way #1 or #7 are in price guides. As such it circulates as a solid but unexceptional entry in a celebrated Kirby run rather than as a spotlighted key.

Demand for this issue comes primarily from Kirby completists and Fourth World readers assembling full runs of New Gods, Forever People, and Mister Miracle, rather than from speculators chasing a specific milestone. Raw copies move steadily but modestly in dealer back-issue bins and online marketplaces, reflecting healthy print runs and long-term availability rather than scarcity. Graded examples, particularly at the high end, appeal to Kirby collectors seeking presentation-grade copies of the whole series, but the book trades as a common, accessible piece of Bronze Age Kirby output across most grades.