I have always been something of a devil's advocate and even though Final Crisis with its higher dimensionality and gods made flesh metaphysics managed to paint a picture of Darkseid that seemed truly horrifying there was still something in me that was drawn to this character. This affinity for the maligned and rejected means also I am one of those few people who was and is willing to give the New 52 the benefit of the doubt. Although I had a passing knowledge of much of the DC universe I found the idea of an accessible reboot at the very least intriguing. So it was that I was probably among the minority of people who didn't moan and groan when the master of Apokolips disappeared just as quickly as he appeared in the initial story arc of Justice League. His subtle hints about yet another child had me wondering when these and a few other questions would be answered. Thankfully Darkseid's Villain month one shot answers these questions and may well set up several more. Like many of the one shots this is in essence a revised origin, and like many of the other revised origins DC has been serving up this will no doubt be an act of heresy to more established readers. Our story begins in the world before our worlds, which seems to be a place where people toil or pray whilst fickle gods play out their daily dramas regardless of the prayers offered to them. Immediately I was reminded of H.P. Lovecraft, and in particular his Dreamlands tales. Not least when Uxas decides to blasphemously visit the gods in their hallowed home. A trope that Lovecraft played out to very different ends in his tales; The Other Gods and The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath. Allusions to Satan abound when a certain mud grubber sows the seed of dissent among the gods causing them to foregoe their normal sporting and wage all out war on one another. What some might call a throwaway comic book takes on almost Nietzschean themes as our protagonist discovers the gods, though they seldom answer, require prayer to maintain their existence. Realising this Uxas decides instead to murder nearly all of them and become a god himself, named Darkseid. We are also given a brief revised origin of a character who I can only assume will be Highfather when Uxas' brother in law appeals to the last living god for protection and salvation. Izaya is transformed and declares them both New Gods as they battle, a battle which ushers in what we can only presume is the Fourth World. Greg Pak, Paulo Siqueria and Netho Diaz might well have left things there and I would've been quite happy. However we flash forward to Apokolips where Darkseid sits broodingly and humourless on a throne, but even his Eden is not without it's serpent and we are introduced to Kaiyo; the Chaos Bringer. As this addendum progresses we are given the reasoning behind not only Darkseid's appearance in Justice League but also a possible reason why Earth 2 was invaded and it's greatest heroes killed. Established readers make take issue with the revised origin of the New Gods, though I personally can't see why. The comic itself you see, is the very model of this, just as there is now a singular Fourth World above yet able to interact with the multi-verse, so Darkseid #1 informs and enriches the narrative of such titles as Wonder Woman, Justice League, Earth 2, Batman Superman and perhaps a lot more besides.