Jack Kirby's Fourth World: Featuring: Mister Miracle [Paperback]

Jack Kirby (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 187 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563897237
• ISBN-13: 978-1563897238
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,200,071 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mister Miracle from Fourth World To Super Hero, January 22, 2005

By 

M. B. RENTZLER (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jack Kirby's Fourth World: Featuring: Mister Miracle (Paperback)

This is the second volume from DC that reprints Kirby's Mister Miracle (in black and white with gray tones). Mister Miracle is Jack Kirby's super-escape artist character.

The first volume was tied more tightly with his "Fourth World Series" (New Gods, Mister Miracle, Forever People and to a much lesser degree his run on Jimmy Olsen).

By the time most of the stories for this second volume came out the other Fourth World titles were cancelled or on the verge of being so. The Demon and Kamandi were in the works.

Mister Miracle was being aimed at more conventional super hero fare (or at least as conventional as Kirby could make it). This is not to say the stories are bad, just different from the earlier part of the run.

Of note is the introduction of Shiloh Norman who would become Mister Miracle's apprentice and latter in the comics assume the role of Mister Miracle (as he may do again this year, 2005, in a Grant Morrison Maxi Series).

Mike Royer provides the inking for the stories in this volume and his stong line compliments Kirby's pencils rather well.

Why only four stars, its the black and white. These books were meant for color, but then again the price can't be beat.

But don't worry too much, the last story in the volume is the wedding of Scott (Mister Miracle) Free and Barda and the entire cast of the New Gods shows up to make it a wedding slug fest in the grand tradition of Kirby's Fantastic Four Wedding. The very last panels are like something out of Shakesphere and are well worth reading and rereading.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars FOUR PART SERIES ENDS ON A HIGH NOTE, August 4, 2003

By 

TheIntruder - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jack Kirby's Fourth World: Featuring: Mister Miracle (Paperback)

This is the final part of a four-part series of black and white trades collecting Jack Kirby's New Gods, Forever People and Mister Miracle. The three titles, which Kirby was writing, drawing and editing himself, where meant to be a grand space opera concluding with a great showdown between Orion and and his father Darkseid. But after the first two series were cancelled by DC, only Mister Miracle was left and the story was simplified so that it focused more on Mister Miracle's life on earth. This trade collects the second half of the Mister Miracle title which Kirby did. Dispite a simpler story, I think its better that the Mister Miracle trade but not as good as the Forever People and New Gods, which is clearly the best.

Some new villains are introduceed and Darkseid and his gang make an appearance, but clearly the most important part is the blossoming of the relationship between Big Barda and Mister Miracle. It seems that Kirby was planning to develop this relationship slowly but wasn't given enough time. Still, it wasn't a bad issue at all.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Lovely Fourth World Sunset: The New God as Superhero, December 31, 2009

By 

Kevin M. Derby (Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jack Kirby's Fourth World: Featuring: Mister Miracle (Paperback)

In this volume, you will find the second half of the original Mr. Miracle. As the rest of his "Fourth World" saga was being shut down by the powers that be at DC, Jack Kirby tried in vain to keep "Mr. Miracle" afloat. With the exception of the last issue, the comics included in this collection follow the more traditional comic book stories as opposed to the epic mythology of the Fourth World adventures. This is a fun collection despite the conclusion of the series. Mr. Miracle develops as a character and so does his love interest Big Barda and his sidekick Oberon. Kirby's inclusion of a young boy to help Mr. Miracle's adventures, while having consequences down the road in the DC universe, does not particularly help the book along. The series concludes with one of the most powerful endings in comics as characters face love, cheer, sorrow and fear in the course of a few pages. While there are a few conventional superhero stories included here, what stands out is the closing of Kirby's Fourth World. Be warned. This book is black and white. If you want to see this saga in color, you will have to pay a bit more and take a look at the Fourth World Omnibus that DC released. I can not say this took away from my enjoyment of this excellent collection but I focus more on plot and character development than comic art so I can not speak for everyone.