Forever People

From DC Database

Contents 1 History 2 Paraphernalia 3 Notes 4 Trivia 5 Recommended Readings 6 Related Articles 7 See Also 8 Links and References

History

The patriarch of the planet New Genesis, Izaya (also known as Highfather), engaged in a social experiment wherein he selected five random individuals from different points in Earth's history and brought them to New Genesis. The five children (named Beautiful Dreamer, Moonrider, Big Bear, Serifan and Vykin) grew up as close friends and eventually began to refer to themselves as the Forever People.

Highfather's evil counterpart, the lord of Apokolips, Darkseid, kidnapped Beautiful Dreamer and brought her back to the planet Earth. Determined to rescue her, the four friends acquired a special Mother Box, and a flying Super-Cycle and teleported to Earth via Boom Tube to find her. There, they met Earth's champion Superman, who aided them in freeing Beautiful Dreamer from Darkseid's trap. Darkseid attempted to defeat the Forever People by dispatching a host of Gravi-Guards after them, but the team used the power of their Mother Box to summon a being known as the Infinity Man. A creature of cosmic level power, the Infinity Man successfully repelled Darkseid's forces, enabling Superman to wrest Beautiful Dreamer away from Darkseid’s grasp. ^[1]

With the team reunited, the Forever People decided to remain on the planet Earth. They wanted to explore the world, and in so doing discover a part of their own missing heritage, but the forces of Darkseid were always nipping at their heels every step of the way. Darkseid even created the experimental energy parasite Mantis for the express purpose of stopping the Forever People. Fortunately, the superior power of the Infinity Man saved his allies' lives once again. They also called upon the Infinity Man to overcome the influence of Darkseid's evangelical lieutenant, Glorious Godfrey. Darkseid prepared for the Infinity Man's presence this time however, and managed to capture the team and bring them back to Apokolips where they were forced to endure interrogation and torture at one of DeSaad's faux amusement parks known as "Happyland". During this debacle, the five adolescents met a martial arts expert named Sonny Sumo, who aided in freeing them from DeSaad's torture chambers.

After several more harrowing adventures, the Forever People found themselves in a situation that the could not escape from. Darkseid sent his agent, Devilance the Pursuer, after the Forever People, knowing that Devilance’s power could counter the power of the Infinity Man. Darkseid's machinations trapped the Infinity Man is trapped on the other-dimensional world known as Adon. When Devilance arrived, the Infinity Man coaxed the Forever People to exchange places with him, allowing him the chance to stop Devilance. Devilance and the Infinity Man seemingly destroyed each other, leaving the Forever People stranded on Adon. ^[2]

Unable to leave the planet, the Forever People decided to settle down. Beautiful Dreamer and Big Bear fell in love and were eventually married, giving birth to a daughter named Maya. Mark Moonrider and Vykin sought to cultivate the planet’s civilian population. Using the power of the Mother Box, they created the community known as Forevertown, but the Mother Box overloaded, and the resulting explosion killed Vykin. Although saddened, Mark continued their work and soon became the Mayor of Forevertown. Mark fell in love with one of the natives, Mina, and the two wed and sired offspring of their own, Wendy, Merry and Starbright.

A corruptive entity known as the Dark visited Adon and took possession of Serifan. During this adventure, the Dark attempted to reverse time, and in so doing resurrected the Infinity Man, Vykin the Black, and the Mother Box. The Dark was defeated and the Forever People were united once again. ^[3]

Paraphernalia

Equipment: Mother Box; while the Mother Box used by the Forever People demonstrated all of the typical traits common to such a device, it also possessed one unique quality. When all five members of the team touched the box simultaneously and shouted the word, "Taaruu", they could summon a cosmic being known as the Infinity Man. The power of the Infinity Man was ideal for dealing with threat levels greater than what the Forever People were capable of handling.

Transportation: The Forever People rode a highly advanced conveyance known as the Super-Cycle. The cycle itself was capable of varying feats including, atmospheric flight, teleportation and the ability to phase through solid objects.

Weapons: The Forever People traditionally do not utilize any weaponry, and would largely consider the presence of the Infinity Man to be their greatest offensive asset.

Notes

• The Forever People were created by writer/artist Jack Kirby. The first Forever People series, along with The New Gods, Mister Miracle, and Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen won Jack Kirby a Shazam award for Special Achievement by an Individual in 1973.

• According to the audio commentary on Justice League season two DVD, scenes featuring the Forever People were animated for inclusion in the episode "Twilight, Part II." These scenes were an action sequence where the Forever People rescued the children of New Genesis during Darkseid's attack. Due to time constraints, the scenes were cut down to a brief appearance at the end of the episode where the Forever People present the rescued children to Highfather.
  

Trivia

• Beautiful Dreamer has no spoken dialog in the first issue of the original Forever People series. She was stunned by Darkseid and was unable to speak.

• The process by which the Forever People switch places with the Infinity Man was, by Kirby's own admission,^{[citation needed]} a homage of sorts to Billy Batson's exchange with Captain Marvel; Batson would shout "Shazam!", while the Forever People would shout "Taruu". Captain Marvel noted the similitude when he meet the Forever People during a Superman storyline, in a battle against Brainiac.

• Another "Super-Cycle" like the Forever People's was later found by Young Justice and became their method of transportation.

• In the 10th issue of the original Kirby run, Deadman guest-starred in a story where he was given a "Follower" - an android built with Apokolips technology, and later captured by the Forever People. He was also given a "Blue Cartridge" from Serifan's collection which allowed Boston Brand to merge with the Follower and thus give him a new body to function with. This was never referred to again in any Deadman story that followed.

• The Forever People did not make appearances in either Crisis on Inifnite Earths or Infinite Crisis.

Recommended Readings

• Forever People (Volume 1)
• Forever People (Volume 2)
• Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle

Related Articles

• Forever People roster
• Beautiful Dreamer appearances list
• Big Bear appearances list
• Infinity Man appearances list
• Mark Moonrider appearances list
• Serifan image gallery
• Serifan appearances list
• Vykin the Black appearances list
• Darkseid
• Deadman
• DeSaad
• Devilance the Pursuer
• Glorious Godfrey
• Mantis
• New Gods
• Source
• Takion

See Also

• Appearances of Forever People (Chronological)
• Appearances of Forever People (Alphabetical)
• Team Gallery: Forever People
• Catalogued images featuring Forever People

Links and References

• Forever People article at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
• Forever People profile
• Forever People profile at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe
• Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #8
• Who's Who: Update '88 #1
  
• Forever People at Wikipedia.org

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Forever People. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with DC Database, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Jack Kirby's Fourth World This character or group of characters are related to Jack Kirby's Fourth World, either the original concept and group of titles by Jack Kirby, or any of their subsequent adaptations by other creators. This template will categorize articles that include it into the Fourth World Characters category.