World Famous Comics: Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus, Vol. 1
Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus, Vol. 1
By: Jack Kirby Publisher: DC Comics Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 396 Publication Date: May 30, 2007 Release Date: May 02, 2007 Studio: DC Comics
Product Description: After co-creating comic book heroes including The Fantastic Four and The Hulk, legendary writer/artist Jack Kirby came to DC Comics in 1970 to write and illustrate four interlocking series known collectively as "The Fourth World."
Now, for the first time, DC collects these four series -- THE NEW GODS, THE FOREVER PEOPLE, MISTER MIRACLE and SUPERMAN'S PAL JIMMY OLSEN -- in chronological order as they originally appeared. These comics spanned galaxies, from the streets of Metropolis to the far-flung worlds of New Genesis and Apokolips, as cosmic-powered heroes and villains struggled for supremacy.
Volume 1 features the debuts of Orion of the New Gods, the evil Darkseid, super-escape artist Mister Miracle and many others. It also features numerous appearances by Superman.
Well put together book but...... ^ I like a lot of Jack Kirby's work but, unfortunately, this series isn't top on my list. The book is well produced and all of the different series that were included in the Fourth World saga are here in chronological order which is nice but as the series progresses, admittedly, Jack becomes overwhelmed and it comes across in the work produced. The series is spread over four titles and the constant jumping around becomes distracting. In volume 3 and 4 of this collection, Jack started to fall behind in producing all four titles in such a short amount of time and the stories begin to suffer. In my opinion, unless you are a die-hard Kirby fan, stick to his stand-alone books such as his run on Captain America, Fighting American, The Losers, The Eternals and the Demon run whih have all been reprinted in hardcover collections. If they ever come out with New Gods or Forever People collections that stand alone and do not include the tedious reprints of the torurous Jimmy Olsen, Superman's Pal stories and the quirky but sometimes monotonous Mister Miracle, buy 5 copies beacuse you will want to read and reread them until the books fall apart!!
King Kirby at his Frantic Finest ^ What can one possibly say about Jack Kirby's Fourth World epic?
It's wild, off the wall, bursting with energy, ideas, and incredible illustrations, lovingly collected in an edition built to last.
Imagine a hidden lab using secretly harvested cells to grow endless duplicates of living humans - and these are the good guys?!?
Jack tosses out concepts at an incredible pace, often a years worth for any normal writer crammed into a space of half an issue.
At first, the oddness of the format, a couple issues of Jimmy Olsen here, followed by a couple of New Gods there, then a jump to Mr. Miracle or the Forever People, seems a bit disconcerting, but after a while it helps replicate the original experience of reading the comics in a way that orderly reprints of each individual title never can. And if you need to read the exciting conclusion of a tale right now you can always jump forward and then come back.
Sure, there are oddities here. A super-heroic twin of Don Rickles, every black character has "Black" in his name, a seriously misinformed view of hippy culture, grandiose dialogue that sounds perfectly reasonable on New Genesis and Apokolips but stilted when delivered by earth men.
To say nothing (well, okay, something) about the weird redrawing of Jack's Superman and Jimmy Olsen by first Al Plastino and later Murphy Anderson to fit the house style...because,if you lure the biggest name in the industry to jump ship and join your company and promote his new projects with more hype than ever given a single creator at the time...of course you want to mute his individuality and make his work look like everybody else!
Writing, drawing and editing 4 titles at one time Jack was working too fast to operate from a detailed master plan and is at times making it up as he goes. Some sloppiness is evident on the editorial end, particularly when it comes to proofing colors. The inks are rushed and lazy, with even afterword writer Mark Evanier commenting of the tendency of Vince Colletta to omit background detail and figures as he saw fit.
But as you get lost in the rush of Kirby's creative tide these quibbles are quickly forgotten. I first read these books in 1970 (at the age of *sigh* 9) and have a deeper appreciation for their greatness today. This is some of the most incredible, most important work in the history of comics, by perhaps the greatest, most important creator ever in the medium.
This is a volume no lover of comics or Kirby should be without.
Flawed Construction of an Epic Vision ^ DC is to be commended for collecting Jack Kirby's "Fourth World" series in a colored edition though the price seems a bit high. The controversy about the paper quality has been dealt with in enough reviews and will not be touched upon in this review. The first volume of the "Fourth World" omnibus collects the first issues that Kirby produced of "The New Gods", "Mr. Miracle", "The Forever People" and "Superman's Pal Jimmy Olson." In all of these issues, Kirby's masterful vision of a comic epic can be seen but the reader can also see why DC pulled the plug on Kirby before he was able to complete it. Kirby's dialogue is often flat and sometimes dreadful. While often at the cutting edge of where comics were headed, Kirby also relied on his three decades of experience in the field. Kirby offers an interesting mythology, some fascinating heroes and villains and some solid plots. Readers will probably like some of the stories while not liking others (for example, I enjoyed most of the "New Gods" and "Mr. Miracle" issues, tolerated the "Forever People" and did not care for the Jimmy Olson stories). Kirby was in his 50s when he wrote these stories and seems caught between capturing the spirit of his time (certainly the "Forever People" was an attempt to bridge the "generation gap" of the era) and trying to stick with the tried and true (such as bringing the "Newsboy Legion" out to inflict the Jimmy Olson issues). Also included in the work are some excellent essays. A solid work all in all that chronicles the highs and the lows of Kirby's attempt to start the "Fourth World" saga.
Great, but not for a novice ^ Jack Kirby is a legend in the comic book industry. His imagination knew no bounds and during his time at DC Comics he was give free reign to let it run wild. The results are astounding in their creativity, but don't necessarily stand the test of time. I don't mean the stories are any less fun, but they wouldn't fit with today's modern comic/graphic novel reader who wants a serious reading experience.
Essentially what Kirby gives us is the comic book equivalent of great 50s/60s B-movie sci-fi; corny in a lot of ways, yet very imaginative and fun. The dialogue is atrocious, but that is fitting with the style. This stuff is excellent for its nostalgia value, and great as a look back to the explosive creative force that was the "King," but is not for someone new to comics.
As for the book itself, its large with a really neat cover and dust jacket. The works have been re-colored, but the paper stock is not the glossy type that many are used in a typical graphic novel. It's more similar to the newspapery stock of an old-school comic, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. As a matter of fact I think it works for the material.
In short, if you like comics and you like Kirby, buy this! If you're new to the medium, start off with Watchmen, Fables, or something of that nature
The "paper quality" issue? A non-issue... ^ There's really not much to add to all the heaps of praise already present in most of these reviews; all of it is well-earned. Kirby's boundless imagination gave us some truly wonderful creations in the Fourth World saga, including Darkseid, who is certainly among the all-time greatest villains in all of fiction.
The main reason I decided to contribute a review is to chime in on the issue of the quality of paper DC used in these omnibus editions. Despite the claims made by a few of the previous reviewers, the paper is quite good, and is miles above newsprint in terms of quality. The pages will not be turning yellow or disintegrating, or any other such nonsense. It's a fairly heavy stock, and should hold up quite well over time. Just because the paper is lacking a slick, glossy finish doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it. If, like others I have seen around the net, you're on the fence about buying these omnibus editions because of the paper issue, I just want to join the chorus urging everyone to go ahead and pull the trigger on a purchase, for there is no issue. And at the discounted amazon price, these volumes can't be beat!
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