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Rating:  -
I've always been curious about the Fourth World saga from the 70s and was excited to receive this for Christmas. Kirby used Superman to introduce bold new characters and concepts, which really helps bring in the reader.
Lots of folks have complained about the paper quality--saying it should be glossy, but I don't have any complaints. It's sturdy paper; not going to rip when you turn the page.
Rating:  -
I'm not going to go into a tirade about the quality of this first volume of the Jack Kirby 4th world Omnibus. I found the finished package to be fine. What I would warn any prospective buyers about (and I get to do this because I bought the 1st 3 volumes myself) is the content. As an avid comic fan and collector since the "silver age", I sometimes get nostalgic for the "good ol' days" of DC & Marvel. Fine. I have a good job and some disposeable income to spend on books like this so that's no problem. Covered. What I've got to remember, and a lot of us do this, is that I can sometimes "rose-tint" certain elements of my past. The passing of time can sometimes smooth out the rough edges and barbs of earlier criticisms of our youth. In other words, I forgot how childish and simple some of the works of "King" Kirby could be..especially his latter works, like those represented here.
What I'm saying is, that if you get the opportunity, you should check out one of these volumes at a place like Borders or B. Dalton, where you can sit down and peruse the material before deciding if you want to purchase this bombastic epic of Kirby bizarreness on Amazon. I've just finished volume 1 and my head's spinning, after the nonstop battering of DNAliens, Hairies, Wild Ones, Forever People, New Gods, etc, etc. and Jimmy Olsen, who's turned into a little snit, dissing his former buddy, Superman. Reading an undisciplined, "give him carte' blanche" Kirby is an acquired taste, and THERE'S JUST SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH OF HIM !!! here... How much of that annoying mega-demon Darkseid can we take? The character has no motivation other than non-stop destruction and hatred. It wears thin after awhile, and this is only volume 1 !
Anyway,someday I'll pick up volume 2, but for the time being , I'm going to take a breather and get back to some more subtler storytelling. Reading so much Kirby at one time is like getting all that candy at Halloween...it's sweet, it's fun, but after awhile you crave more substantial fare.
Rating:  -
Thirteen years after his passing, Jack Kirby continues to amaze me. Kirby's move to DC in 1970 and his work on the Fourth World titles was a couple of years before I got into comics so I had never read these stories before. DC, in their "infinite" wisdom is now presenting Kirby's entire Fourth World stories in a series of hardcover Omnibus editions and the first has just recently been released. This massive 400 page book reprints Jimmy Olsen # 133 - 139, along with the first three issues of the new series' that Jack created: The Forever People, The New Gods, and Mister Miracle.
It's clear in reading these stories now that Kirby was still at the top of his game despite many who claimed he wasn't. As I read through the book I could see a number of similar themes between Jack's work on the Fourth World books to work he did at Marvel Comics on titles such as The Fantastic Four and Thor. In fact, the twin worlds of the New Gods were created as a result of The Ragnarok, which destroyed the world of the Old Guys. This work rival's Kirby's work on Thor in the late 60's when Thor was going through his cosmic period, traveling in space and confronting Galactus, Ego the Living Planet, The High Evolutionary and more. Kirby was creating a cosmic mythology several years before Jim Starlin would make his name doing the same thing over at Marvel.
The stories in the Omnibus are a mixed bag. The Jimmy Olsen stories are the weakest as Kirby was trying perhaps too hard to sound hip with the 70's hippie vernacular. I'm not sure anything could ever make Jimmy Olsen "hip". The Olsen stories did allow Kirby to reintroduce the Newsboy Legion, those loveable street kids that Kirby had created nearly thirty years earlier. I think by far the best tales were the New Gods and Mister Miracle stories. In New Gods #1 we learn of the twin worlds of New Genesis and Apokolips...opposite sides of the coin...day and night...The Highfather and Orion seem to parallel Odin and Thor. Kirby starts things quickly learning that Darkseid is already on Earth, setting his plans conquer Earth, even as Orion attacks his forces on Apokolips. The fight continues to Earth...Later Kirby introduces us to The Black Racer, a character who flies about on snow skies...hey, we thought a silver guy on a surfboard was pretty silly at first, too, didn't we? With the whole New Gods saga there is just this powerful cosmic scope that was so far ahead of it's time back in 1970 that it doesn't surprise me that the titles we cancelled after only a handful of issues. Kirby would go back to Marvel and essentially recreate the New Gods as The Eternals. Even one of Kirby's final series, Silver Star for Pacific Comics, was another turn of the same themes as the New Gods and The Eternals.
Mister Miracle is a fun title and that is so involving. Scott Free appears to be any other ordinary human when he meets the original Mister Miracle, Thaddeus Brown. Free takes over the guise when Brown is murdered. Free is the Son of The Highfather, ruler of New Genesis but in a peace agreement with Darkseid, Scott is raised on Apokolips while Orion is raised on New Genesis. He was raised in one of Granny Goodness' orphanages, eventually escaping and fleeing to Earth and using the technology of the Mother Box to perform his amazing feats of escape. Probably my favorite of all the Fourth World titles!
Now I know some people have complained about this book being printed on newsprint paper as opposed to the heavier, glossy stock of the usual DC Archive editions and it is a valid complaint. At the same time, this book is nearly twice the size of the Archive books and would have either had to have the page count reduced or had the price raised over $50, to be released in this format. And I don't know, there's just something special about Kirby's work on newsprint, I guess. Five out of Five Stars.
REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON
Rating: -
Buy it. Its good art good story lines and writers are still using the material 35 years latter.
The nuts and the bolts. The retail price is 50 dollars. However on Amazon its 33 dollars. That's about two dollars and thirty six cents ($2.36) per issue. You don't have to hunt down the individual issues, plus its in a nice hard cover. Some of the colors have been redone in the Volumes. Mostly to correct laziness or errors made in 1971. Example, some pages I'm Mister Miracle issue 2 show the costume with red lips (first 2 pages only) but was correct in the volume.
People complain about the paper and how it should be done as one of DC archives editions. Their right. However An Archive edition takes about a year per Volume (give or take) to come out (due to the process and love to restore). DC is putting these out to cash in on their 8 part comic "Death of the New Gods" (my option). I think the reason are pleased but want an even better version, because they with to pass it along to the next generation, something that will last.
So buy these now and hold tight till the Archives come out, years latter
Rating: -
Listen - I've been collecting comics for thirty years and let me tell you that this is a great edition not just in terms of content but format. I don't understand the negative reviews due to the paper. In my opinion this paper should be used for all books of this type where classic stories are being reprinted. It doesn't have that annoying high gloss like the Marvel Masterworks do. It keeps the colors so vibrant but yet gives you that old school feel. Bravo - I just ordered volume 2!
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