Customer Reviews

Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus, Vol. 3

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

the blurring problem mentioned in the above review (by AGONISTES) is NOT PRESENT in the copy of JACK KIRBY'S FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS VOL. 3 that i have just received from amazon. the book seems to be mistake free for once. along with FANTASTIC FOUR, THOR and some other great stuff for MARVEL, this series represents some of the best work KIRBY ever did. the stories, written by KIRBY are very wild and reflect the scope of the KING'S imagination and the wild times in which they were written. the artwork as always with KIRBY is fantastic. originally some, including myself were very unhappy with the form in which these reprints where presented. over time and 3 volumes i've come to like this format more and more. the artwork looks very much like the original comic books and the color reconstruction is excellent. when KIRBY moved to DC for a time he was allowed to do whatever he wanted. the results (this series) are among the very best comic books KIRBY ever produced. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I noticed that pgs 69-76 were printed slightly out of focus. This is a problem that I've come across many times during 20 yrs of comic collecting. I sent it back and the replacement had the same problem. If the whole batch is like that then I guess I'd rather have the book w/ the out of focus pgs than not at all. The story that contains this error is "The Pact" from New Gods, one of the best issues of the whole series unfortunately. Also, the index lists that Mister Miracle #10 is included as the last story on pgs 379-401. The story isn't included at all. The stories in the book end on pg 378. This problem I consider minor as well and I'm sure we'll get MM#10 in Vol. 4. As for the content, I think it's all up to the standards of Vols. 1+2. Great stuff!

In Volume III, Kirby's best work on the Fourth World appears. Even Jimmy Olsen picks up due to Royer's inks adding a sense of action formerly missing. This is the volume where Kirby hits his peak and all of the books reach high points in both story and art.
Jimmy Olsen- "Caveman" Jimmy seems to be throwback to the old Jimmy Olsen stories where strange things would happen to him issue after issue. It is a fun bit, but the highlight of the entire run appears in this volume. "Superman in Supertown" finds the man of steel in New Genesis, seeing what life might be like in a place where his power is not needed to constantly save the day. Although he decides to return to help Jimmy and the Newsboys, I think while the dialogue firmly makes the reader think Superman wants to go back, there is a body language message of how relaxed Superman could find himself in this realm where everyone has power and few need defense from the universe's dangers.
The Forever People- Starting off with a history lesson as The Forever People return from various points in Earth's history, including the Lincoln assassination (where of course they can't stop it), Serifan's stand off against the minions of evil and then tricking Darkseid out of finally gaining control of the anti-life equation, The forever people starts well but falls off drastically by the forced use of Deadman for two issues. It would be hard to imagine a worse combination and as you can imagine it doesn't work at all.
Mister Miracle- Finally Mr. Miracle confronts his early tormentor Granny Goodness and the readers get to see how the war between New Genesis and Apokolips began when "The Pact" (more on that later) was broken in "Himon." These stories move the concepts behind the series along and provide some opportunity for the characters of Scott Free and his love Big Barda develop and creates an emotional setting that the other books lack.
The New Gods- This book continues to be the cornerstone of Kirby's Fourth World. "The Pact" a story that shows how the peace was first brokered between New Genesis and Apokolips is a wonderful example of the scope of Kirby's storytelling. The art and epic scope of the story remains one of Kirby's strongest and when combined with "The Death Wish of Terrible Turpin" and "The Bug" they make up Kirby's strongest string of books in the series. The art and story were now firing on all cylinders and just as the book was reaching its beast the end was looming.
This is the last book where the true Kirby effort was coming through. Jimmy Olsen was mercifully ended, albeit with the best story in the series and the other books, with the exception of Mr. Miracle were on their way out. This volume gives you a hint of what might have been accomplished if Kirby was bale to continue unfettered, but this was not to be.

When New Gods, Mr. Miracle and the Forever People first ran in the early 70's, I was 12 years old. I did not have that much money to buy comic books and I lost the story line in all these books, sometimes the middle, sometimes the end. Having the complete four comic book line story was out of the question. What this Omnibus series did for me was to allow me the chance to get the whole story as it was intended. It was well worth the time and the price.

As for the nit-pickers who want to talk about binding and the feel of pages; unless you wish to play football with the book, the book is a well-made beautiful homage to both a man and an age. Strangely the dialog is not terribly dated. Have fun.

The story of Kirby's Fourth World continues in Volume 3 (I haven't found Volume 2 yet). This one is great, as it has plenty of those 2-page spreads that we all love so much (see below). The stories are okay - there are fewer Superman or Jimmy Olsen tales now (and the one that remains, showing Olsen converted into a long-haired Kirby-esque berserker caveman, is actually very good). In the tale, the Forever People get split up and transported back in time, each to a different era (the eve of Lincoln's assassination, ancient Rome, the conquistadors in South America, mini-tales of New Genesis and Apokalips warriors. Then there's the Pact, a classic tale of a young All Father, and the swapping of a young Orion and a baby Scott Free between All Father and Darkseid. Crazy stuff! Then there's Mister Miracle's attack with Big Barda on Apokalips, tales of a teen-aged Scott Free fighting para-demons, then purple chair-eating monsters that befriend Jimmy Olsen and his stupid team of idiot reporters. Superman's adventure in Super Town is, of course, super-weird, as is the discovery of the anti-life equation by a conceited billionaire called Bates, with his weird cult creatures (that look like Dr Satan from Rob Zombie's "House of 1,000 Corpses"). Then there's the tale of detective Turpin, who battles fist-to-fist with a warrior of Apokalips, the berserker Kalibak, until he's a battered pulp. One of the better stories brings in Big Barda's troupe of female pirates, the Harpies, fantastic (see one of the two-page spreads below for more info). Mister Miracle's battle inside his brain with The Lump is quite trippy too, especially his method of defeating the monster. Then there's the Forever People's encounter with Deadman (and a nice episode of Beautiful Dreamer changing into a new dress - sexxee!), fighting a reanimated Frankenstein's creature. Kirby invents a new civilisation, the Bugs of New Genesis, and how one of them escapes and goes to Earth. Another tale tells of Himon, who trains Scott Free and other urchins in Apokalips, it's an odd tale - Himon cannot be destroyed, he escapes every execution. Nutty. The Forever People and Deadman face the Scavengers, including the man who ordered Deadman's death (a revenge tale). Finally, there's another battle with Mantis.

This volume is a bit tougher to rate than it's predecessors. It contains some of the best work Jack Kirby ever produced side by side with some real clunkers.

Though in fairness some of that is not entirely Jack's fault.

The Pact - which I remembered with startling clarity nearly four decades after I'd first read it, and probably a quarter century since I'd last seen it - is nearly unforgettable. The Death Wish of Terrible Turpin and Himon are right there beside it.

And Kirby's art looks as good as it ever did, with inker Mike Royer becoming ever more comfortable and the last remaining trace of the lackluster Vince Colletta relegated to the pages of Jimmy Olsen.

But clearly Jack was losing interest in Supreman's pal as his tenure on the book drew to a close. Certainly the experience of having his lead characters redrawn by others had to be something he was losing patience with. How an artist of his caliber tolerated it for so long is beyond my understanding.

And though the fault lies not with Jack the two issue visit of Deadman to the pages of the Forever People might just be the worst shoe-horning together of two incompatible concepts since Batman teamed up with Jerry Lewis.

(Actually, I'm not sure that ever happened. But trust me, it couldn't have been much worse.)

That idea, however, was the brainchild of DC publisher Carmine Infantino. He asked Jack to revamp the character, then complained that it wasn't the Deadman he knew and loved. In all fairness to Carmine, he was a great artist, but how DC survived his tenure as publisher is beyond me.

I can't help but wonder, in retrospect, if Jack might have been better served had had launched one book instead of four. New Gods is consistently better written and more directed than its sister books, and churning out a sprawling epic through four titles at the pace Jack did it was nearly impossible, even for a man of his massive talent.

But still, Jack is Jack, and even in its lesser moments the tales are always entertaining. That the work in this book is on balance of slightly lesser import than that in the first two volumes is hardly damning.

So get it. Read The Pact, Himon, The Death Wish of Terrible Turpin. And if you decide skip Deadman meets the Forever People, well...I'm sure Jack will understand.

This third volume of "Jack Kirby's Fourth World" stands as the best work Kirby did as he tried to portray his epic vision of worlds in conflict. Kirby's closing issues from his tenure on the "Jimmy Olson" line are included here and they include his finest work in that series. However the heart of this book, indeed the very heart of the "Fourth World" vision can be found in "New Gods", especially the "Pact" and "Death Wish of Terrible Turpin" issues, as well as accounts of how Scott Free broke out of Apokolips and his return to confront the foes who plague him in "Mr. Miracle". Like the first two volumes, the introduction and closing essays are excellent. But this volume, while it contains some of the finest comics ever written, also shows why the "Fourth World" was not a success and why DC pulled the plug on it so quickly. The "Forever People" issues drag, especially when Deadman makes an appearance. While the essays argue that Kirby had no desire to work with the character, the fact remains that he simply did not fit into the "Fourth World." The art, is always, excellent. This volume truly reveals how close Kirby came to realizing his epic vision and serves as the apex of the "Fourth World."

Any fan of the late Jack Kirby should treasure this volume. It includes some of the very best stories ever produced by Mr. Kirby and the volume itself is beautifully reproduced. Hats off to DC for doing such a fine job.