Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus, Vol. 1

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Editorial Reviews:

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.

Customer Reviews: Read 22 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Prepare To Enter The Fourth World... June 23, 2007
60 out of 64 found this review helpful

First Impressions:

The Cover is gorgeous. A larger than life copy of a close-up on Orion - very evocative of the whole Kirby Fourth World experience.

The "heft" of the tome is very light, feeling more like a trade-paper back than a hardcover edition.

The reason for this feather-weight feel is soon obvious. The paper used in this volume is quite unexpected. My initial reaction was one of disappointment and dismay. The paper looks and feels like a higher quality newsprint, not at all what one would expect for a book with a $50.00 cover price! Upon closer examination, there does not seem to be immediate concerns; the paper itself seems quite sturdy - it doesn't have the same feeling of shoddiness that regular newsprint entails and the ink seems to be quite permanent and smear-proof. Upon further examination, I actually began to feel quite good about this rather unorthodox choice. The paper really evokes the feel of an early 70s comic books and it really carries the somewhat garish colors of the original comic (which are faithfully reproduced btw) very well. It really suits the emotional, nostalgia experience.

For those that care about such things, the binding is glued, not sewn, but seems to be well-done and very strong.

Content:

In addition to an introduction by the esteemed Grant Morrison and an afterward by Kirby associate and close friend, Mark Evanier, there are a few Kirby concept drawings.

The heart of the book however are the chronological reprints of the following:

Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133 (Oct 1970)
Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #134 (Dec 1970)
Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #135 (Jan 1971)
The Forever People #1 (Feb 1971)
The New Gods #1 (Feb 1971)
Mister Miracle #1 (Mar 1971)
Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #136 (Mar 1971)
The Forever People #2 (May 1971)
The New Gods #2 (May 1971)
Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #137 (May 1971)
Mister Miracle #2 (June 1971)
The Forever People #3 (July 1971)
Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #138 (July 1971)
The New Gods #3 (July 1971)
Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #139 (July 1971)
Mister Miracle #3 (Aug 1971)

"Wow". Reading or re-reading this volume is just plain fun. For those of us who grew up reading/loving comics in the 60s, there was probably no bigger shock than discovering that Jack Kirby, the heart and soul of the Marvel Universe, was jumping ship to DC. One thing that Jack insisted on for his DC tenure was more creative control of his output. This book represents nothing less than Kirby Unleashed. In re-reading these stories - clearly written for a different era (this was coming on the heels of the end of the 60s after all!) one can still feel the raw electricity, the sheer exuberance of the unbridled creativity pouring from Kirby. Sure, a lot of the dialogue is awkward - a middle-aged man trying to capture the "groovy" language of the youth culture. Nevertheless, these works are nothing short of, well, utterly psychedelic, man! More concisely, Kirby was creating an astounding new mythos which would profoundly change the way the comic book universe of DC would work henceforth and which would forever impact the entire world of superhero comics (again). These are the first chapter of that new world. Read them for their place in the history of the comic book, read them for the enjoyment!

In summation, this is well worth the Amazon discount price. I look forward to future volumes.

1 out of 5 stars

Not the presentation these classics deserve. June 25, 2007
22 out of 33 found this review helpful

I gotta give this the lowest grade possible for the paper it's printed on. $50 for paper that's going to yellow by this time next week? I would have happily paid more for DC to run it on the stock they use for the Archives editions (and why wasn't this part of that series, anyway?)

If you're reading this, you probably already know that this is some of the King's most essential work and you've been waiting for a really high-quality, ARCHIVAL collected edition... unfortunately, this ain't it. Shame, too, because the design of the book is beautiful... on a better paper, this wold have been essential library material. I've cancelled my preorders for future volumes. I'm getting way too used to not buying DC trade collections due to s***ty paper--Marvel puts out so much junk in comparison but they put it all out on nice paper that will last the test of time. DC's product is so stronger on average but so poorly-served in comparison, except for the Archives and absolutes. What's wrong with this picture?

1 out of 5 stars

Jack Kirby is a God, but... July 6, 2007
17 out of 27 found this review helpful

When it comes to comics, Kirby is a God. I would rate the Kirby part 5 stars! Heck, I'd rate it 6 stars if I could. 100 stars!

However, this book is an example of sheer greed or incompetence on the publisher's (DC) part.

Right out of the box, the paper is so inferior that the pages are badly curved and the cover doesn't lay flat.

I sent it back to Amazon and got a second copy. This had the same problem and, in addition, the pages were bound wrong or cut wrong.

*** See the pictures I posted under 'see customer images' at the top of the product overview page ***

If the paper is this badly curled on TWO separate copies, sent at different times, how much worse will it get over time?

I love Kirby and I love the 40-some DC archive editions I have, plus the 30 or so DC soft covers I have (Superman in the 50's, Supe in the 60's, Batman in the 50's, Batman 60's, Greatest Imaginary Stories, etc.)

However, this is just a rip-off on DC's part.

If we let DC get away with this, we will have only ourselves to blame as the quality of their reprints gets worse and worse.

I would expect better quality in a $15 book, much less a $50 book.

Cheap paper and cheap (glued, not sewn) binding.

DC owes its customers better.

They owe Kirby better, too.

1 out of 5 stars

If Quality Is King--Treat the King With Respect!!! August 24, 2007
17 out of 29 found this review helpful

I have to say, I'm as surprized and disgusted by the defense certain reviewers have shown this volume as they are that others would complain about the shoddiness of it.

This book deserves a bad review; it serves as a blatant example of how little respect Marvel and DC have for the work they've continued to mine and desecrate for the better part of three decades. (And do the big two really need to hear these gourmands defend printing classic works on toilet paper for Fifty Dollars? They seem to be content enough on their own.) I'll add only two more remarks to the many that have already been made on the matter--the first of which is a quote from the volume in question. From Mark Evanier's afterword, regarding Jack's apspirations in doing the work reprinted in this very book:

"He [Kirby] just wanted to do something successful and lead comics away from the cheap, disposable format in which they were then published. It was partly a matter of believing the material deserved better and partly a prohpecy that the old format was doomed...So he talked of larger comics, better paper, more sophisticated printing--product that could be sold in bookstores and other heretofore-untapped outlets."

Lastly, in light of that testimonial how are we to think, in this age of Mouse Guard, Absolute Kingdom Come, and Fantagraphics' Prince Valiant reprints, Jack would like to know that his work is deemed deserving of paper, ink, and printing plates of even lesser quality than he was afforded in 1970?

5 out of 5 stars

Doing right by the King July 15, 2007
16 out of 20 found this review helpful

Jeez, some of you guys are scary. Sadly, not knowing what constitutes "newsprint" is only a symptom. The paper stock this collection is printed on is much thicker, and holds ink far better than newsprint. As a friend of mine said, you can actually read this book in daylight, because it's not as absurdly glossy and reflective as the usual high-end archival comics reprint collection paper. Kudos to DC for understanding and respecting the proper context for this material. Newsprint wouldn't keep, but this will. The blacks are solid, the colors are properly saturated, Kirby's story, not the paper, shines.

Things are as they should be here. Flat colour for the most part, not the absurd misuse of computer shading so prevalent in most modern material (digital color can be done right, of course, but we rarely see it in mainstream comics). No "retro" fake halftoning here. Instead, an attention to subtlety, without jarring, attention-grabbing production techniques that have nothing to do with, and add nothing to the content. Asking for anything different is akin to wanting to "improve" black and white by colouring, or line art by painting. Let's get it straight: more "realistic" is not necessarily better. Slicker, glossier, thicker, more more more, is not necessarily better. It certainly wouldn't be here.

Among the blessings we should count: the collection is beautifully designed. with the dust jacket a different image from the actual cover beneath it. That's not lazy production.

And the contents, awesome as they are, will only get better in subsequent volumes as Vince Colletta is replaced as inker by Mike Royer.

Thank you, DC. This is a classy package.

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