This is one of my favorite issues of the New Gods and I believe it to be the central issue for the whole Fourth World Saga. We are not only told of the "bargain" that changed the destiny of two of the major characters in the Fourth World Saga: Orion and Mister Miracle, but it also defined what cosmic clashes would look like in future titles from both DC and Marvel. It begins with a tender moment shared by Avia and Izaya and how it was turned by Darkseid into the beginnings of an ever lasting conflict; out of conflict is born hatred and finally all is sealed by a pact mediated by Metron and securing Darkseid's reign over Apokolips.
We witness the savagery of Steppenwolf, uncle of Darkseid as he lets loose his Dog's of War and the Electro-Axe. The destructive power that the New Gods unleash in order to destroy each other and all that surrounds them. This is the nature of war as Jack Kirby sees it; all destructive, all perverted, all in-human.
We witness the transformation of Izaya, The Inheritor from a cold warrior to the all knowing, peaceful Highfather.
Finally we are presented with the "bargain" that seals New Genesis and Apokolips' fate to the future; the swap of Orion for Scott Free in what will be the determining act for the future of the New Gods and The Fourth World Saga.
There are few creators that can match the architecture of world creation and the words that describes the ever evolving story of cosmic proportions than Jack Kirby. This issue has so much power, so much characterization and so much myth making that one is hard press to understand the energy that this creator draws from to arrive at the story as published in these pages.
Reader be warned: this epic is addictive.