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Jack Kirby's Fourth World #4
Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus, Vol. 4
After co-creating comic book heroes including The Fantastic Four, The Hulk and The X-Men, legendary writer/artist Jack Kirby came to DC Comics in 1970 to publish his magnum four interlocked adventures series that were known collectively as "The Fourth World." This fourth and final volume collects the remaining issues of these four classic series -- THE NEW GODS, THE FOREVER PEOPLE, MISTER MIRACLE and SUPERMAN'S PAL JIMMY OLSEN -- in chronological order as they originally appeared. Also included in this volume are Kirby's sequel to THE NEW GODS, plus the graphic novel THE HUNGER DOGS and rarely seen Kirby art from DC's WHO'S WHO series, all from the mid-1980s.
424 pages, Hardcover
First published March 26, 2008
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About the author
Jack Kirby
2,802 books473 followersJack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg) was one of the most influential, recognizable, and prolific artists in American comic books, and the co-creator of such enduring characters and popular culture icons as the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Hulk, Captain America, and hundreds of others stretching back to the earliest days of the medium. He was also a comic book writer and editor. His most common nickname is "The King."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
September 12, 2012
I don't think it's too big of a spoiler to say that the original story that Kirby wanted to tell here was essentially left unfinished. Due to circumstances beyond his control, Kirby had to rush to throw together some sort of ending for his epic tale of the battle between Apokolips and New Genesis, and the single issues in Volume 4 were the result. They definitely feel rushed, but they're also ridiculously fun, especially for fans of Mister Miracle and Big Barda (and really, we should all be fans of Mister Miracle and Big Barda, but I digress).
Anyway, the last issue of Mister Miracle wraps up a few loose threads, but one major plot point is left unresolved, and it is accompanied by a promise that a future book will pick up where this one left off. Well... not exactly. Kirby did write an ending many years later, the graphic novel called The Hunger Dogs included in this volume, but it bears little resemblance to the Fourth World stories found in the previous three volumes. As other reviewers have mentioned, this is not considered to be Kirby's best work. However, there is something strangely appealing about it, and I enjoyed the contrast between this story and the earlier stories. Kirby tackled the subject of emerging technology, which was kind of cool. Plus, it was a conclusion to the story, and a pretty satisfying one at that. It's simply not as good as the earlier stories, so I can see why so many people didn't like it, but I thought it was OK for what it was.
The reason I gave this volume 5 stars was because this was where all the pieces started to fall into place. It didn't quite get there, but I can't imagine a more appropriate use of the phrase "A for effort." This was definitely an A+ effort, and I give Kirby all the credit in the world for being ambitious enough to make this work as well as it did.
Moving on from this particular volume to the series in general, though? WOW. To say that Kirby was an idea man is the understatement of the millennium. I have no idea how he ever slept with all of these bizarre things taking up room in his brain, but judging by the sheer quantity of work he churned out, I don't imagine he ever got much sleep anyway. The Fourth World saga is epic and insane in the best possible way, and now that I've read it, every other DC book makes so much more sense. Maybe-- just maybe-- I'll be able to understand Final Crisis now. Or not. We'll see.
Anyway, the last issue of Mister Miracle wraps up a few loose threads, but one major plot point is left unresolved, and it is accompanied by a promise that a future book will pick up where this one left off. Well... not exactly. Kirby did write an ending many years later, the graphic novel called The Hunger Dogs included in this volume, but it bears little resemblance to the Fourth World stories found in the previous three volumes. As other reviewers have mentioned, this is not considered to be Kirby's best work. However, there is something strangely appealing about it, and I enjoyed the contrast between this story and the earlier stories. Kirby tackled the subject of emerging technology, which was kind of cool. Plus, it was a conclusion to the story, and a pretty satisfying one at that. It's simply not as good as the earlier stories, so I can see why so many people didn't like it, but I thought it was OK for what it was.
The reason I gave this volume 5 stars was because this was where all the pieces started to fall into place. It didn't quite get there, but I can't imagine a more appropriate use of the phrase "A for effort." This was definitely an A+ effort, and I give Kirby all the credit in the world for being ambitious enough to make this work as well as it did.
Moving on from this particular volume to the series in general, though? WOW. To say that Kirby was an idea man is the understatement of the millennium. I have no idea how he ever slept with all of these bizarre things taking up room in his brain, but judging by the sheer quantity of work he churned out, I don't imagine he ever got much sleep anyway. The Fourth World saga is epic and insane in the best possible way, and now that I've read it, every other DC book makes so much more sense. Maybe-- just maybe-- I'll be able to understand Final Crisis now. Or not. We'll see.
June 5, 2022
Último tomo de esta monunental obra de Jack Kirby. Aquí encontramos los últimos tomos de la serie de Mr. milagro y una novela gráfica que intentaba unos años después dar un final a la serie de Nuevos dioses. La serie de Mr. Milagro tiene momentos muy divertidos con las furias femeninas pero la novela de los perros hambrientos me ha parecido muy floja si la comparamos con el resto de la serie.
Por suerte los personajes del cuarto mundo se transformarán en unos habituales de DC apareciendo en crossovers y otras series como no podía ser menos. Un genio Kirby.
Por suerte los personajes del cuarto mundo se transformarán en unos habituales de DC apareciendo en crossovers y otras series como no podía ser menos. Un genio Kirby.
April 6, 2013
The weakest volume in this series, due to the fact that New Gods and Forever People were cancelled (last issues are here) and the Fourth World saga was abruptly terminated. The last New Gods issue featuring Kalibak vs Orion was great, especially nice to see the Black Racer finally nail some one. The Forever People ends on a note of mystery. Mister Miracle makes up for the bulk of this volume, taking up with the after effects of his escape from Apokolips. I had forgotten that Big Barda's Female Furies had defected from Apokolips and became part of Mister Miracle's act, they are superb characters and very funny. They disappear into limbo after a few issues, but Shilo Norman, a young African American, becomes a part of the series and gets tutored by Scott and Barda. I had read Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers series where he had an adult Shilo taking up the mantle of Mister Miracle, I could see from these issues how he came up with that idea. The last issue of Mister Miracle is bittersweet as we finally have Highfather and Orion meet the character as he gets married to Barda. Good stuff. The weakest part is the Hunger Dogs graphic novel, written and drawn by Jack Kirby when his health wasn't the greatest, the art uneven, the story a bit choppy. Not a grand conclusion but an interesting development. The afterword by Mark Evanier is insightful as always.
June 23, 2018
I’m not really going to be discussing the whole volume. Most of it is the final nine issues of Mister Miracle, most notable historically for the debut of Shilo Norman, who would later be featured under that name and role in Grant Morrison’s Seven Soldiers of Victory. There’s also the final issue of Forever People, which takes Infinity Man off the table.
And there’s the final issue of New Gods, a later issue’s worth of new material from a reprint series, and the graphic novel The Hunger Dogs, Jack Kirby’s final contribution to the Fourth World.
Popular lore holds Hunger Dogs to be a poor final statement and worse ending. DC has been chasing a “final” New Gods story ever since. John Byrne tackled it in the ‘90s, Walt Simonson followed, and then Morrison with Final Crisis. In the New 52 era, the New Gods made sporadic appearances. No attempt was made at any definitive statements except maybe by Geoff Johns in his “Darkseid War” arc in Justice League. The New Gods have yet to show any significance in the Rebirth era.
So is Hunger Dogs really so disappointing?
Short answer: No.
I think it’s suffered from fans peaking behind the curtain, knowing its troubled history, knowing Kirby was asked to rework it, and yes, knowing that it didn’t provide the ending anyone expected.
You can go back to New Gods #11, Kirby’s final issue of that series, to see how Kirby began to shape his story. Orion finally sets his sights on the fated final confrontation with his father, Darkseid. He kills brutish Kalibak in combat, even as Darkseid becomes dangerously unstable, murdering his sadistic aide DeSaad. By the time Kirby gets to revisit the story, some ten years later, you can see where he literally picks up where he left off, and where his writing reflects his thoughts on the suspended creative process. He literally brings back Kalibak and DeSaad from the dead, and yet they’re not the same as they were previously, and then he fake-outs Orion’s death. Darkseid can’t bring himself to kill his own son, ironically. And maybe that’s comment enough about that fateful battle.
Kirby’s art was iconic for superhero comics. He co-created, with Stan Lee, most of Marvel’s most famous characters. His writing was always a little rough, the stereotypical lack-of-nuance, non-literary style that used to dominate comics, and for some readers and...every moviegoer, ought to still dominate. That’s all I need to say about the Mister Miracle issues.
But when he had a story to tell, instead of mere madcap adventure, which is basically what most of his Fourth World comics were (why they followed young heroes like the Forever People, the escape artist Mister Miracle, and a hothead like Orion), Jack Kirby could write. The difference in the material I highlighted at the start of this review is striking.
So, The Hunger Dogs.
Despite its name, this graphic novel really is a direct continuation of the final New Gods issue and the new material from the reprint series. It is not a story about the Hunger Dogs, but that features them, as a source of support for Orion and a new menace for Darkseid. You see, these are the lowliest denizens of Apokolips, Darkseid’s dark world. A popular revolt is one way to strike boldly against a tyrant. Even if it doesn’t succeed, it sends a real message that Darkseid no longer has an iron grip.
In fact, even when he gets doomsday weapons into New Genesis, home of Highfather and the rest of the good gods, and the planet is subsequently destroyed...this is not a victory for Darkseid, since Highfather’s people have refuge in the vast city-ship of Supertown.
If I can read parallels into all this, I would surmise Supertown to have now become the Jews spreading back out into the world, escaping the tyranny of Rome, which continues its mad descent into chaos and inevitable collapse.
Kirby’s storytelling is remarkably prescient. Even in 2008, when this omnibus was printed, the idea of military drones was still new, and yet Kirby has Darkseid lament the changing face of war, even the emerging reluctance to call it war. Technology is fast consuming life on Apokolips, and this is seen as both blessing and curse. In 1985, no one knew just how much that would be reflected in the real world in the years to come, but there was already Terminator, and of course later The Matrix. If Kirby had told a bigger version of this story, I have no doubt that machines would have played a larger role, and that there would today even be a well-known New God robot of some kind.
Anyway, Orion’s victory against Darkseid is in rescuing his mother, in finding love. In short, in rejecting everything Darkseid stands for. If Orion only ever saw himself previously as the warrior, he now has new definitions, and a new purpose. All Darkseid has is decaying illusion.
Kirby reveals a lot of insights along the way, about how cynicism is dangerous, that evil exists whether we admit it or not. Darkseid may not be defeated at the end, but the end is certainly in sight, and that’s perhaps the most important thing Kirby could have emphasized, that the fight is never over as long as there’s still something to fight, and to fight for. Metron appears at the end of the story, promising new horizons, perhaps the new world his fellow New Gods now seek. He always seemed too aloof, too detached from everyone else. Now it seems he was looking after their interests all along, after his own fashion, and that’s important to emphasize, too. We don’t all have to fight the same battles the same way.
I would really say that Hunger Dogs is essential to the Fourth World experience. And a worthwhile commentary on the real world, too.
And there’s the final issue of New Gods, a later issue’s worth of new material from a reprint series, and the graphic novel The Hunger Dogs, Jack Kirby’s final contribution to the Fourth World.
Popular lore holds Hunger Dogs to be a poor final statement and worse ending. DC has been chasing a “final” New Gods story ever since. John Byrne tackled it in the ‘90s, Walt Simonson followed, and then Morrison with Final Crisis. In the New 52 era, the New Gods made sporadic appearances. No attempt was made at any definitive statements except maybe by Geoff Johns in his “Darkseid War” arc in Justice League. The New Gods have yet to show any significance in the Rebirth era.
So is Hunger Dogs really so disappointing?
Short answer: No.
I think it’s suffered from fans peaking behind the curtain, knowing its troubled history, knowing Kirby was asked to rework it, and yes, knowing that it didn’t provide the ending anyone expected.
You can go back to New Gods #11, Kirby’s final issue of that series, to see how Kirby began to shape his story. Orion finally sets his sights on the fated final confrontation with his father, Darkseid. He kills brutish Kalibak in combat, even as Darkseid becomes dangerously unstable, murdering his sadistic aide DeSaad. By the time Kirby gets to revisit the story, some ten years later, you can see where he literally picks up where he left off, and where his writing reflects his thoughts on the suspended creative process. He literally brings back Kalibak and DeSaad from the dead, and yet they’re not the same as they were previously, and then he fake-outs Orion’s death. Darkseid can’t bring himself to kill his own son, ironically. And maybe that’s comment enough about that fateful battle.
Kirby’s art was iconic for superhero comics. He co-created, with Stan Lee, most of Marvel’s most famous characters. His writing was always a little rough, the stereotypical lack-of-nuance, non-literary style that used to dominate comics, and for some readers and...every moviegoer, ought to still dominate. That’s all I need to say about the Mister Miracle issues.
But when he had a story to tell, instead of mere madcap adventure, which is basically what most of his Fourth World comics were (why they followed young heroes like the Forever People, the escape artist Mister Miracle, and a hothead like Orion), Jack Kirby could write. The difference in the material I highlighted at the start of this review is striking.
So, The Hunger Dogs.
Despite its name, this graphic novel really is a direct continuation of the final New Gods issue and the new material from the reprint series. It is not a story about the Hunger Dogs, but that features them, as a source of support for Orion and a new menace for Darkseid. You see, these are the lowliest denizens of Apokolips, Darkseid’s dark world. A popular revolt is one way to strike boldly against a tyrant. Even if it doesn’t succeed, it sends a real message that Darkseid no longer has an iron grip.
In fact, even when he gets doomsday weapons into New Genesis, home of Highfather and the rest of the good gods, and the planet is subsequently destroyed...this is not a victory for Darkseid, since Highfather’s people have refuge in the vast city-ship of Supertown.
If I can read parallels into all this, I would surmise Supertown to have now become the Jews spreading back out into the world, escaping the tyranny of Rome, which continues its mad descent into chaos and inevitable collapse.
Kirby’s storytelling is remarkably prescient. Even in 2008, when this omnibus was printed, the idea of military drones was still new, and yet Kirby has Darkseid lament the changing face of war, even the emerging reluctance to call it war. Technology is fast consuming life on Apokolips, and this is seen as both blessing and curse. In 1985, no one knew just how much that would be reflected in the real world in the years to come, but there was already Terminator, and of course later The Matrix. If Kirby had told a bigger version of this story, I have no doubt that machines would have played a larger role, and that there would today even be a well-known New God robot of some kind.
Anyway, Orion’s victory against Darkseid is in rescuing his mother, in finding love. In short, in rejecting everything Darkseid stands for. If Orion only ever saw himself previously as the warrior, he now has new definitions, and a new purpose. All Darkseid has is decaying illusion.
Kirby reveals a lot of insights along the way, about how cynicism is dangerous, that evil exists whether we admit it or not. Darkseid may not be defeated at the end, but the end is certainly in sight, and that’s perhaps the most important thing Kirby could have emphasized, that the fight is never over as long as there’s still something to fight, and to fight for. Metron appears at the end of the story, promising new horizons, perhaps the new world his fellow New Gods now seek. He always seemed too aloof, too detached from everyone else. Now it seems he was looking after their interests all along, after his own fashion, and that’s important to emphasize, too. We don’t all have to fight the same battles the same way.
I would really say that Hunger Dogs is essential to the Fourth World experience. And a worthwhile commentary on the real world, too.
July 24, 2023
Although this particular volume has lots of problems others have covered in their reviews, none (or very, very few) of those problems are the fault of Jack Kirby. If you're reading the Fourth World saga, you probably already know about those problems, yet the entire work, all four volumes, are a testament to the genius and extraordinary imagination of Jack Kirby. Strap in and get ready for a wild, wild ride.
August 4, 2020
Disappointing compared to the previous volumes. I had hoped it would be better since it didn't include any of the Jimmy Olsen issues, but Mr. Miracle turns into typical super hero stories of the era and the concluding New Gods stories feel rushed and unsatisfying, although there are some good action moments.
January 3, 2025
This volume's tough to discuss. FOREVER PEOPLE and NEW GODS are unceremoniously cut short after their eleventh issues, each one included here. So Orion has a big throwdown with Kalibak, which ends when the Black Racer finally collects a New God and Orion swears he'll finally defeat Darkseid (hold that thought for fifteen years!). The Forever People, who've actually clashed with Darkseid far more than Orion has during this year-long run, get something closer to a conclusion, suggesting to me that Jack knew that series was finished. The kids are hunted by the unstoppable Devilance. The Infinity Man is finally able to make contact from the other dimension into which Darkseid had banished him, so they "Taruu!" and Infinity and Devilance (assumedly) kill each other, leaving the Forevers trapped in this other dimension, where they seem happy to continue exploring and adventuring without the trappings of New Genesis or Apokolips. Scott Free, meanwhile, has broken free of Apokolips' shadow and settles into a fairly entertaining, but far less epic, series of superhero adventures, accompanied by Barda, Oberon, the hilarious Furies, and eventually his protegee, the delightful Shilo Norman. The Fourth World saga fades away until the series' final issue. It's still a fun sequence of comics.
Then Jack authored a chapter to run in a New Gods reprint series in the mid-80s. Each issue collected two issues of the original series, so he created a new tale of Orion hunting Darkseid to occupy the back-half of the sixth issue (collecting issue 11 and including the new story). Orion fails, but sets up THE HUNGER DOGS, a fascinating, ambitious, wildly uneven climax to the saga. I mean, the whole notion that even the gods themselves are made useless and redundant by the automation of everything on Apokolips is a wild twist (and totally timeless - from manufacturing jobs lost to automation a hundred years ago to today's A.I.-based jobs disappearances). The book doesn't land the finale, as is widely reported, but there's still some fun ideas and great sequences, even if Kirby's artwork isn't as powerful as it once was.
Takeaways: Barda and Scott are great! The Forever People deserve a lot more credit for throwing down against Darkseid TWICE (they lost both times, but they tried), long before Orion claimed sole providence at defeating Darkseid. Orion is still a badass. Also, Desaad, Kalibak, and Steppenwolf might've returned from the dead, but they're still basically robots devoid of any personality. That's been long forgotten.
+++++++++++
The first three volumes are, honestly, my favorite comics ever. Kirby puts so much energy and passion into each page, I'm just drawn right in. Although he's clearly making up a lot of the mythology as he goes along, DC's decision to print the Omnibuses in publication order allows you to see how each element of the cosmology was introduced and spread out into the other titles to become part of the core of the Fourth World.
And volume three... wow! "The Pact," "The Death Wish of Terrible Turpin," and Mister Miracle and Barda's invasion of Apokolips to earn their freedom from Granny Goodness's attacks. The book is just filled with relentlessly exciting and emotionally wrenching sagas - "The Pact" alone would've been a 12-issue maxi-series these days, but Kirby condenses it to 24 pages and captures all of the horror of the war between New Genesis and Apokolips, the cost paid by those involved, and the tragedy, yet hope, of The Pact itself.
Despite Kirby's often seat-of-his-pants plotting, he apparently had a clear enough idea of the bigger picture that the entire thing comes together very organically and very smoothly. It feels real, despite the outlandish technology and otherworld settings.
The fourth volume comes down from the highs of volume 3, focusing often on Mister Miracle's understudy Shilo Norman, completely eschewing the Fourth World elements until the final issue, which shoehorns in as many major Fourth World players as possible, to its detriment. The Hunger Dogs tries very hard to resolve the main Orion/Darkseid feud, and it's a valiant effort, but it's stiff and disjointed. Kirby's artwork also feels uneven and limited in the finale, which is amazing considering how intense and immense it seems in the original Fourth World comics.
Still, even with the uneven denouement, the passion and excitement is just unbeatable. Easily, my favorite comics of all time.
Then Jack authored a chapter to run in a New Gods reprint series in the mid-80s. Each issue collected two issues of the original series, so he created a new tale of Orion hunting Darkseid to occupy the back-half of the sixth issue (collecting issue 11 and including the new story). Orion fails, but sets up THE HUNGER DOGS, a fascinating, ambitious, wildly uneven climax to the saga. I mean, the whole notion that even the gods themselves are made useless and redundant by the automation of everything on Apokolips is a wild twist (and totally timeless - from manufacturing jobs lost to automation a hundred years ago to today's A.I.-based jobs disappearances). The book doesn't land the finale, as is widely reported, but there's still some fun ideas and great sequences, even if Kirby's artwork isn't as powerful as it once was.
Takeaways: Barda and Scott are great! The Forever People deserve a lot more credit for throwing down against Darkseid TWICE (they lost both times, but they tried), long before Orion claimed sole providence at defeating Darkseid. Orion is still a badass. Also, Desaad, Kalibak, and Steppenwolf might've returned from the dead, but they're still basically robots devoid of any personality. That's been long forgotten.
+++++++++++
The first three volumes are, honestly, my favorite comics ever. Kirby puts so much energy and passion into each page, I'm just drawn right in. Although he's clearly making up a lot of the mythology as he goes along, DC's decision to print the Omnibuses in publication order allows you to see how each element of the cosmology was introduced and spread out into the other titles to become part of the core of the Fourth World.
And volume three... wow! "The Pact," "The Death Wish of Terrible Turpin," and Mister Miracle and Barda's invasion of Apokolips to earn their freedom from Granny Goodness's attacks. The book is just filled with relentlessly exciting and emotionally wrenching sagas - "The Pact" alone would've been a 12-issue maxi-series these days, but Kirby condenses it to 24 pages and captures all of the horror of the war between New Genesis and Apokolips, the cost paid by those involved, and the tragedy, yet hope, of The Pact itself.
Despite Kirby's often seat-of-his-pants plotting, he apparently had a clear enough idea of the bigger picture that the entire thing comes together very organically and very smoothly. It feels real, despite the outlandish technology and otherworld settings.
The fourth volume comes down from the highs of volume 3, focusing often on Mister Miracle's understudy Shilo Norman, completely eschewing the Fourth World elements until the final issue, which shoehorns in as many major Fourth World players as possible, to its detriment. The Hunger Dogs tries very hard to resolve the main Orion/Darkseid feud, and it's a valiant effort, but it's stiff and disjointed. Kirby's artwork also feels uneven and limited in the finale, which is amazing considering how intense and immense it seems in the original Fourth World comics.
Still, even with the uneven denouement, the passion and excitement is just unbeatable. Easily, my favorite comics of all time.
March 16, 2019
Levitz's introduction is the shortest and least informative of the four volumes, including some wild errors suggesting he knows absolutely nothing about Marvel Comics, crediting DC with the shared universe in All Star Comics in 1942 (when Namor and the Human Torch had met in 1940 and mentioned each other a couple of issues beforehand), and claims that Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four were never meant to be in the same story world, when the Fantastic Four appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #1, and the Hulk appeared in a newspaper story in Fantastic Four #8 several months before that!
This volume has some great moments, but with the cancellation of The Forever People and The New Gods, Mister Miracle tries to steam on as a conventional superhero book for several issues, even adding a kid sidekick in Shilo Norman (perhaps the first interracial superhero/kid sidekick pair), but the villains they encounter, such as the Terrible Trio, are uninspired. With the final issue and the wedding of Scott and Barda, the connection to the Fourth World is reestablished. Kirby also gets to exorcise more World War II demons by having an "actual" Nazi with the unlikely name of von Killowitz.
The last two stories from the New Gods reprint series #6 and The Hunger Dogs graphic novel does a decent job tying things up by implementing major catastrophic changes, but it doesn't involve either the Forever People or Mister Miracle cast, not does it explain the different likenesses of Mantis and Steppenwolf that appear on the Who's Who pages in the appendix, familiar from my initial exposure to the characters through the Super Powers line. I can't blame Kirby for the repetitiveness of the Who's Who bios, especially for the Forever People, or the decision not to identify Sammy Sumo and some of the other significant characters in the saga. Perhaps DC was embarrassed to own a character called Sammy Sumo (he was done in tribute to Morrie Kuramoto, a Marvel letterer). The foreshortened wrap-up is also more DC's fault than Kirby's. Why was the thread about Morgan Edge and Intergang dropped, for example? Probably because Kirby was relieved of duties on Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen when sales started to wane. That's probably also the reason for someone in a costume bearing a strong resemblance to Etrigan, whose book foir which he was forced to drop the two titles.
This final volume is essential for Kirby fans because The Hunger Dogs restores Mike Royer's original inks, which were redone for the graphic novel, which is scarce and pricy as it is.
In spite of the weaknesses in the volume, it's essential for closure to the series, even though it doesn't get to end with Orion and Darkseid destroying each other. It's an open ending, but an ending, nonetheless, just as The Forever People ended in issue #11 exploring a new world. I know the characters make more appearances, but will they be interesting without the Kirby touch? I'll at least give them a try. I do know that Mister Miracle and Etrigan have both been played heavily for laughs in the 1980s and 1990s, which may or may not be an insult (I'll have to read them to find out--I own every Etrigan appearance from the Kirby hardcover to issue #21 of the third series, but a few of them are being stored at a friend's house, which is slowing me from reading them), but they've also been used effectively by Neil Gaiman, who practically introduced me to Etrigan, whereas I knew Mister Miracle because of Super Powers.
This volume has some great moments, but with the cancellation of The Forever People and The New Gods, Mister Miracle tries to steam on as a conventional superhero book for several issues, even adding a kid sidekick in Shilo Norman (perhaps the first interracial superhero/kid sidekick pair), but the villains they encounter, such as the Terrible Trio, are uninspired. With the final issue and the wedding of Scott and Barda, the connection to the Fourth World is reestablished. Kirby also gets to exorcise more World War II demons by having an "actual" Nazi with the unlikely name of von Killowitz.
The last two stories from the New Gods reprint series #6 and The Hunger Dogs graphic novel does a decent job tying things up by implementing major catastrophic changes, but it doesn't involve either the Forever People or Mister Miracle cast, not does it explain the different likenesses of Mantis and Steppenwolf that appear on the Who's Who pages in the appendix, familiar from my initial exposure to the characters through the Super Powers line. I can't blame Kirby for the repetitiveness of the Who's Who bios, especially for the Forever People, or the decision not to identify Sammy Sumo and some of the other significant characters in the saga. Perhaps DC was embarrassed to own a character called Sammy Sumo (he was done in tribute to Morrie Kuramoto, a Marvel letterer). The foreshortened wrap-up is also more DC's fault than Kirby's. Why was the thread about Morgan Edge and Intergang dropped, for example? Probably because Kirby was relieved of duties on Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen when sales started to wane. That's probably also the reason for someone in a costume bearing a strong resemblance to Etrigan, whose book foir which he was forced to drop the two titles.
This final volume is essential for Kirby fans because The Hunger Dogs restores Mike Royer's original inks, which were redone for the graphic novel, which is scarce and pricy as it is.
In spite of the weaknesses in the volume, it's essential for closure to the series, even though it doesn't get to end with Orion and Darkseid destroying each other. It's an open ending, but an ending, nonetheless, just as The Forever People ended in issue #11 exploring a new world. I know the characters make more appearances, but will they be interesting without the Kirby touch? I'll at least give them a try. I do know that Mister Miracle and Etrigan have both been played heavily for laughs in the 1980s and 1990s, which may or may not be an insult (I'll have to read them to find out--I own every Etrigan appearance from the Kirby hardcover to issue #21 of the third series, but a few of them are being stored at a friend's house, which is slowing me from reading them), but they've also been used effectively by Neil Gaiman, who practically introduced me to Etrigan, whereas I knew Mister Miracle because of Super Powers.
February 4, 2013
And there you have it. The "end" of the Kirby epic. The first of its kind in comics.
Everything I want to say about the series as a whole is wrapped up nicely in the Afterword (a great historical document throughout all four volumes) but let's go ahead and look at the merits of this volume alone.
Forever People and New Gods were wrapped up rather nicely in the beginning. The majority of this book is Mister Miracle and that is just fine with me. Kirby went to great lengths to distance Mister Miracle from the Fourth World because it was basically cancelled around him. This gave Mister Miracle a chance to be more of a traditional super hero book (not in a traditional formula, but more of a good guy beats bad guy kind of thing). Wrapping up nicely with a wedding issue that was really fun.
Kirby got to do what few people get to, he was allowed to go back 10 years later and try to wrap up his story. The outcome is somewhat lackluster, but no less satisfying in the context.
If I was unaware of the 10 year gap, and the behind-the-scenes story of what was going on (see the afterwords in these volumes) then I would have been severely let down. But what you actually get to see here, is a pioneer in comics (not just modern comics, but COMICS!) get a chance to shine once again. It's fantastic!
I'm really happy I took the time to sit and read Jack Kirby's Fourth World. It's a great roadmap of the history of DC Comics and a nice legacy for Jack "King" Kirby.
Everything I want to say about the series as a whole is wrapped up nicely in the Afterword (a great historical document throughout all four volumes) but let's go ahead and look at the merits of this volume alone.
Forever People and New Gods were wrapped up rather nicely in the beginning. The majority of this book is Mister Miracle and that is just fine with me. Kirby went to great lengths to distance Mister Miracle from the Fourth World because it was basically cancelled around him. This gave Mister Miracle a chance to be more of a traditional super hero book (not in a traditional formula, but more of a good guy beats bad guy kind of thing). Wrapping up nicely with a wedding issue that was really fun.
Kirby got to do what few people get to, he was allowed to go back 10 years later and try to wrap up his story. The outcome is somewhat lackluster, but no less satisfying in the context.
If I was unaware of the 10 year gap, and the behind-the-scenes story of what was going on (see the afterwords in these volumes) then I would have been severely let down. But what you actually get to see here, is a pioneer in comics (not just modern comics, but COMICS!) get a chance to shine once again. It's fantastic!
I'm really happy I took the time to sit and read Jack Kirby's Fourth World. It's a great roadmap of the history of DC Comics and a nice legacy for Jack "King" Kirby.
February 12, 2016
I read these in the original comic format when they came out. Jack Kirby changed his style in the early 1970s and I fell out of being a fan of his art and stories. While I do like several of the characters he created for his 4th world stories, particularly Darkseid and Orion, overall I never could seem to get into the books. If you are a Kirby fan then these are the core of his creation. Recommended
February 27, 2013
i liked this last volume of Kirby's Fourth World saga, but it was very much his weakest efforts. the cancellation of the core titles, the move to make Mr Miracle a regular super hero, plus the tired effort of his wrap up to the saga, wore this volume down compared to the first three. there are still flashes of Kirby genius, but it's easy to tell he was discouraged and ready to move on.
June 19, 2018
You can tell Jack Kirby was getting close to the end of the series run by the way stories just fall off and plot lines were dropped (DC's fault, not his) but I'll be damned if he doesn't still put everything he has into trying to tell good stories.
August 14, 2018
Jack Kirby's Fourth World saga has changed the way I view myth and comics. These four volumes are an absolute must-read for fans of comics, tales of gods, cosmic adventures, and good ol' fashioned superheroes.
February 8, 2021
The final volume of the Omnibus is a letdown after the tremendous stories in the previous volume. It contains the final issues of The Forever People (#11) and The New Gods (#11), and the final 9 issues of Mr. Miracle (#10-18). And it has Kirby's final contributions to his epic, the 1984 "Even Gods Must Die!" (New Gods reprint series #6) and the 1985 graphic novel, The Hunger Dogs!.
According to Mark Evanier's Afterword, Kirby learned that The Forever People and New Gods were "suspended" (i.e., cancelled) as he was writing #11 of the former. Evanier doesn't tell us if Kirby abandoned whatever he plans he had for the team's last issue to write what got, "Devilance the Pursuer," but it would make sense if he did. In issue #8, "The Power!," Darkseid had let the Forever People go, telling Desaad that he didn't kill children. There are then two awkward issues in which Kirby had to shoehorn Deadman into that comic, no Apokoliptian villains or New Gods folks in sight. And then, suddenly, issue #11 opens with the Forever People on the run from Darkseid's relentless hunter and assassin because, for some unknown reason, Darkseid has decided that he does, indeed, kill children (or, at least, has them killed). The entire issue is essentially a chase story, with the Forever People barely a step ahead of their pursuer. Finally, they are able to summon Infinity Man, for the first time since issue #3 ("Life v. Anti-Life!"). The Forever People's fate is kind but also anti-climactic . This story might have worked if Kirby had had time to set it up--if we knew why Darkseid had decided to kill them, even though they hadn't had dealings with him or Apokolips since the last time he spared them--if we had a sense of how long Devilance had pursued them. Instead, the issue reads as Kirby's best attempt at providing some closure to their story under the last-minute circumstances of the cancellation.
Similarly, "Darkseid and Sons!" is also rather abrupt in its end, though it gets there with a little more grace. Kalibak, who has been in police custody since "The Death Wish of Terrible Turpin," is released by the police commissioner because he promises to get his side to discuss peace. Why anyone believes this is beyond me. Of course, as soon as he's free, he exits through the wall and tracks down Orion for the major battle. And then we learn some really interesting, and contradictory, things in a Darkseid/Desaad scene. Darkseid seems to both want Kalibak and Orion to kill each other and, at the same time, doesn't want anything of the sort. Or maybe he unconsciously wants Orion to win.
When Kalibak and Orion do fight, it's an epic battle. But Kalibak ends up getting the upper hand, and it looks like Orion is going to die. And, once again, Darkseid does something unexpected. Why Darkseid behaves the way he does isn't clear. I don't take him at his word that he's just pissed off that someone is interfering in the battle. I think he's generally angry about the consequences of that interference, though why he cares about Orion at all is a mystery, especially given his treatment of his son during Orion's childhood (as revealed in "The Pact!"). And then the battle ends rather surprisingly. The final panel is less effective than it otherwise probably would have been if Kirby had had time to plot out the ending instead of only one issue after news of the cancellation.
The remaining Mr. Miracle issues are not wonderful. Scott, Barda, and the Female Furies arrive on Earth after escaping Apokolips. After an uninspiring encounter with a new villain that would only be slightly over-the-top for '60s Bond villains, they put together a new act, involving everyone. But, after issue #11, the Furies vanish without a trace or comment. Essentially, Kirby dropped all references to the Fourth World. Even Scott's mother box is referred to as his "circuits." So we get a series of one-off adventures that aren't particularly compelling. Scott then takes in Shilo Norman, a young (maybe 12 or 14?) Black kid who wants to avenge his murdered brother. Shilo is a poor kid from the "inner city" with apparently no other family or means of support who also knows judo (and knows it well). Plus, he's fast and a natural at escape artistry. So he becomes Scott's apprentice. But all of the stories are earth-bound and not particularly interesting.
The final issue, "Wild, Wild Wedding Guests," is another rushed farewell to Kirby's remaining Fourth World characters. It's not clear how much notice Kirby had of the cancellation, but it wouldn't be surprising if it was the same amount as his previous stories in this epic. So a lot of stuff happens in a very short period of time. Within 4 1/2 pages, Scott and Barda have suddenly confessed their passionate love for each other, even though their relationship had been platonic to that point. The decision to get married takes place only 2 panels later. And most of the major Apokolyptian villains show up out of the blue to kill them (Granny Goodness, Virmin Vundabar, Kanto, and Dr. Bedlam). Why? It's not clear, as the whole point of Scott returning to Apokolips and winning his freedom through trial by combat (issues #7-8) was so that they wouldn't be under constant attack by Apokolips. No explanation is given for why there's suddenly a villain team-up to kill them.
But the wedding gets even wilder, as the big names in The New Gods show up for the impromptu wedding (without any need for invitations!). The Source has proclaimed that there will be a wedding, and, for some unexplained reason, Scott and Barda will then have to leave Earth to live in Supertown. It's a rushed affair, as everyone (even the Apokolips bad guys, who are also wedding "guests") are afraid of Darkseid showing up. And then he does, a split second after all of the other Fourth Worlders depart. As weird and rushed an issue as this was, it's worth it for Darkseid's final words, overheard only by Shilo and Oberon.
10 years after DC cancelled Kirby's Fourth World series, he was invited back to conclude it, though apparently not in the way that he wanted (). The passage of time, compounded by a confused approach to publishing Kirby's story, harms the story. Kirby's artistic skills had noticeably declined (even to someone like me, who is less sensitive to artistic nuances). Darkseid's depiction, in particular, suffers. The menace inherent in his 1970s appearances is lacking. Additionally, Mark Evanier's afterword explained that DC originally wanted Kirby to wrap everything up in one issue. When that proved impossible (not surprisingly), he was offered a graphic novel, instead. Kirby's original story was incorporated into the larger finale, but, apparently, pages were interspersed with new ones (plus, Evanier points out that graphic novel pages are sized differently than comic pages, so there was resizing).
"Even Gods Must Die!" starts with Orion's return to Apokolips and his attempt to rescue his mother, Tigra, and leads directly to The Hunger Dogs. There are some really interesting ideas in Kirby's finale. Darkseid, whose malevolence and desire for total control dominated Kirby's epic, has lost his spark. Apokolips has mastered the mechanics of war; it produces chemical weapons and the Fourth World equivalent of nuclear bombs. Its warriors, so central to his earlier stories, are relegated to the sidelines. They provide security for weapons factories. And war is conducted largely from a distance, through bombing runs rather than the pitched battles that (eventually) led to Izaya's epiphany. In this world, Darkseid is almost an afterthought. His evil genius was the motivating force in so many of Kirby's Fourth World stories; events would never have developed as they did without Darkseid's active involvement. By The Hunger Dogs, Darkseid seems largely unnecessary to Apokolips' war machine.
Orion's story takes an unexpected turn. It feels like a bit of a disappointment, given how Kirby's original stories set up the expected climax. Tony Laplume's 2018 review makes an interesting point about Orion's ending: "Anyway, Orion’s victory against Darkseid is in rescuing his mother, in finding love. In short, in rejecting everything Darkseid stands for. If Orion only ever saw himself previously as the warrior, he now has new definitions, and a new purpose. All Darkseid has is decaying illusion." This is a thought-provoking take and it has merit, though I think, if this was Kirby's intention, it is given short shrift by the abrupt way in which Orion's triumphs are portrayed ().
The most disappointing aspect of the story is what happens to a character with a small role in The New Gods and Forever People but who plays a pivotal role in Kirby's final tale. .
Apokolips' Hunger Dogs--the people on the absolute bottom rung of Apokolips' society--take a more prominent role in the story. Their disaffection and willingness to resist Darkseid's regime is in direct contrast to Mr. Miracle #9 ("Himon"), where the "Lowlies" (a/k/a "Hunger Dogs") are eager to destroy Himon, who is the entirety of Apokolips' resistance to Darkseid. Perhaps Darkseid's diminishing personal menace explains the growing resistance and resentment among his people. Nonetheless, it is Highfather's decision that brings about the collapse of Darkseid's regime.
According to Mark Evanier's Afterword, Kirby learned that The Forever People and New Gods were "suspended" (i.e., cancelled) as he was writing #11 of the former. Evanier doesn't tell us if Kirby abandoned whatever he plans he had for the team's last issue to write what got, "Devilance the Pursuer," but it would make sense if he did. In issue #8, "The Power!," Darkseid had let the Forever People go, telling Desaad that he didn't kill children. There are then two awkward issues in which Kirby had to shoehorn Deadman into that comic, no Apokoliptian villains or New Gods folks in sight. And then, suddenly, issue #11 opens with the Forever People on the run from Darkseid's relentless hunter and assassin because, for some unknown reason, Darkseid has decided that he does, indeed, kill children (or, at least, has them killed). The entire issue is essentially a chase story, with the Forever People barely a step ahead of their pursuer. Finally, they are able to summon Infinity Man, for the first time since issue #3 ("Life v. Anti-Life!"). The Forever People's fate is kind but also anti-climactic . This story might have worked if Kirby had had time to set it up--if we knew why Darkseid had decided to kill them, even though they hadn't had dealings with him or Apokolips since the last time he spared them--if we had a sense of how long Devilance had pursued them. Instead, the issue reads as Kirby's best attempt at providing some closure to their story under the last-minute circumstances of the cancellation.
Similarly, "Darkseid and Sons!" is also rather abrupt in its end, though it gets there with a little more grace. Kalibak, who has been in police custody since "The Death Wish of Terrible Turpin," is released by the police commissioner because he promises to get his side to discuss peace. Why anyone believes this is beyond me. Of course, as soon as he's free, he exits through the wall and tracks down Orion for the major battle. And then we learn some really interesting, and contradictory, things in a Darkseid/Desaad scene. Darkseid seems to both want Kalibak and Orion to kill each other and, at the same time, doesn't want anything of the sort. Or maybe he unconsciously wants Orion to win.
When Kalibak and Orion do fight, it's an epic battle. But Kalibak ends up getting the upper hand, and it looks like Orion is going to die. And, once again, Darkseid does something unexpected. Why Darkseid behaves the way he does isn't clear. I don't take him at his word that he's just pissed off that someone is interfering in the battle. I think he's generally angry about the consequences of that interference, though why he cares about Orion at all is a mystery, especially given his treatment of his son during Orion's childhood (as revealed in "The Pact!"). And then the battle ends rather surprisingly. The final panel is less effective than it otherwise probably would have been if Kirby had had time to plot out the ending instead of only one issue after news of the cancellation.
The remaining Mr. Miracle issues are not wonderful. Scott, Barda, and the Female Furies arrive on Earth after escaping Apokolips. After an uninspiring encounter with a new villain that would only be slightly over-the-top for '60s Bond villains, they put together a new act, involving everyone. But, after issue #11, the Furies vanish without a trace or comment. Essentially, Kirby dropped all references to the Fourth World. Even Scott's mother box is referred to as his "circuits." So we get a series of one-off adventures that aren't particularly compelling. Scott then takes in Shilo Norman, a young (maybe 12 or 14?) Black kid who wants to avenge his murdered brother. Shilo is a poor kid from the "inner city" with apparently no other family or means of support who also knows judo (and knows it well). Plus, he's fast and a natural at escape artistry. So he becomes Scott's apprentice. But all of the stories are earth-bound and not particularly interesting.
The final issue, "Wild, Wild Wedding Guests," is another rushed farewell to Kirby's remaining Fourth World characters. It's not clear how much notice Kirby had of the cancellation, but it wouldn't be surprising if it was the same amount as his previous stories in this epic. So a lot of stuff happens in a very short period of time. Within 4 1/2 pages, Scott and Barda have suddenly confessed their passionate love for each other, even though their relationship had been platonic to that point. The decision to get married takes place only 2 panels later. And most of the major Apokolyptian villains show up out of the blue to kill them (Granny Goodness, Virmin Vundabar, Kanto, and Dr. Bedlam). Why? It's not clear, as the whole point of Scott returning to Apokolips and winning his freedom through trial by combat (issues #7-8) was so that they wouldn't be under constant attack by Apokolips. No explanation is given for why there's suddenly a villain team-up to kill them.
But the wedding gets even wilder, as the big names in The New Gods show up for the impromptu wedding (without any need for invitations!). The Source has proclaimed that there will be a wedding, and, for some unexplained reason, Scott and Barda will then have to leave Earth to live in Supertown. It's a rushed affair, as everyone (even the Apokolips bad guys, who are also wedding "guests") are afraid of Darkseid showing up. And then he does, a split second after all of the other Fourth Worlders depart. As weird and rushed an issue as this was, it's worth it for Darkseid's final words, overheard only by Shilo and Oberon.
10 years after DC cancelled Kirby's Fourth World series, he was invited back to conclude it, though apparently not in the way that he wanted (). The passage of time, compounded by a confused approach to publishing Kirby's story, harms the story. Kirby's artistic skills had noticeably declined (even to someone like me, who is less sensitive to artistic nuances). Darkseid's depiction, in particular, suffers. The menace inherent in his 1970s appearances is lacking. Additionally, Mark Evanier's afterword explained that DC originally wanted Kirby to wrap everything up in one issue. When that proved impossible (not surprisingly), he was offered a graphic novel, instead. Kirby's original story was incorporated into the larger finale, but, apparently, pages were interspersed with new ones (plus, Evanier points out that graphic novel pages are sized differently than comic pages, so there was resizing).
"Even Gods Must Die!" starts with Orion's return to Apokolips and his attempt to rescue his mother, Tigra, and leads directly to The Hunger Dogs. There are some really interesting ideas in Kirby's finale. Darkseid, whose malevolence and desire for total control dominated Kirby's epic, has lost his spark. Apokolips has mastered the mechanics of war; it produces chemical weapons and the Fourth World equivalent of nuclear bombs. Its warriors, so central to his earlier stories, are relegated to the sidelines. They provide security for weapons factories. And war is conducted largely from a distance, through bombing runs rather than the pitched battles that (eventually) led to Izaya's epiphany. In this world, Darkseid is almost an afterthought. His evil genius was the motivating force in so many of Kirby's Fourth World stories; events would never have developed as they did without Darkseid's active involvement. By The Hunger Dogs, Darkseid seems largely unnecessary to Apokolips' war machine.
Orion's story takes an unexpected turn. It feels like a bit of a disappointment, given how Kirby's original stories set up the expected climax. Tony Laplume's 2018 review makes an interesting point about Orion's ending: "Anyway, Orion’s victory against Darkseid is in rescuing his mother, in finding love. In short, in rejecting everything Darkseid stands for. If Orion only ever saw himself previously as the warrior, he now has new definitions, and a new purpose. All Darkseid has is decaying illusion." This is a thought-provoking take and it has merit, though I think, if this was Kirby's intention, it is given short shrift by the abrupt way in which Orion's triumphs are portrayed ().
The most disappointing aspect of the story is what happens to a character with a small role in The New Gods and Forever People but who plays a pivotal role in Kirby's final tale. .
Apokolips' Hunger Dogs--the people on the absolute bottom rung of Apokolips' society--take a more prominent role in the story. Their disaffection and willingness to resist Darkseid's regime is in direct contrast to Mr. Miracle #9 ("Himon"), where the "Lowlies" (a/k/a "Hunger Dogs") are eager to destroy Himon, who is the entirety of Apokolips' resistance to Darkseid. Perhaps Darkseid's diminishing personal menace explains the growing resistance and resentment among his people. Nonetheless, it is Highfather's decision that brings about the collapse of Darkseid's regime.
August 20, 2023
This volume, the fourth and final collection of Jack Kirby's most famous DC project, allows us to observe the final moments of the original run of titles, and the somewhat haphazard resolution that was tacked on by Kirby years later, when DC gave him another shot at his famous property. As anyone who ever talks about Kirby will stress, he was endlessly creative, and the "Fourth World" is often considered his most personal work in the comics medium.
The bulk of the collection, though, consists of issues of "Mister Miracle", which lasted a full seven issues more than the others did. After Mister Miracle and Big Barda escape from Apokolips, where they adventured for most of the previous volume, they return to Earth, accompanied by Barda's former team of Female Furies (Lashina, Mad Harriet, Stompa, Bernadeth). They rejoin Oberon and meet a new promoter, Ted Brown, the son of the original Mister Miracle, resuming their attempt to live away from the god war and become famous performers. Along the way, of course, they inevitably run afoul of villains such as Madame Evil Eyes, a murderous British colonel who seems a parody of Shaw's "Pygmalion", and the memorably-named Nazi war criminal Von Killowitz (Kirby was creative, not subtle). Mister Miracle even takes on an apprentice, a black youth named Shilo Norman.
For most of these issues, Kirby avoids the wider Fourth World mythology in favor of superhero exploits. The series ends, though, as fans of the characters' later DCU appearances would expect, with Mister Miracle and Big Barda's wedding, an event that every major Apokolips villain tries to crash (actually, they prompt the wedding, as much as anything), with guest appearances by Orion, Lightray, and Highfather, before the New God heroes leave their mortal companions and return home (the other Furies seemingly go back to Darkseid's service, given where we see them next in the "Even Gods Must Die!" special).
Finally, there is the aforementioned special and the graphic novel "Hunger Dogs!", which marks the end of Kirby's contribution to the mythology (although future DCU series would ignore it, and many other aspects of Kirby's original series, in order to make fuller use of his original concepts before he started to wrap them up). It is not a wholly satisfactory ending, though it is interesting to see Kirby incorporate ideas about the increased mechanization of society (which even the arch-villain Darkseid finds unsettling) and the atomic weapons race. "Hunger Dogs!" does not conclude the prophecy of Darkseid and Orion's destiny, but it provides a bit of closure, while simultaneously leaving the future of the New Gods wide open.
If you have read the previous three volumes (and you should, if you mean to understand the Fourth World properly) then you know what to expect from the King: wild imagination in art and story, somewhat dated, but well worth your time if you enjoy older comics.
The bulk of the collection, though, consists of issues of "Mister Miracle", which lasted a full seven issues more than the others did. After Mister Miracle and Big Barda escape from Apokolips, where they adventured for most of the previous volume, they return to Earth, accompanied by Barda's former team of Female Furies (Lashina, Mad Harriet, Stompa, Bernadeth). They rejoin Oberon and meet a new promoter, Ted Brown, the son of the original Mister Miracle, resuming their attempt to live away from the god war and become famous performers. Along the way, of course, they inevitably run afoul of villains such as Madame Evil Eyes, a murderous British colonel who seems a parody of Shaw's "Pygmalion", and the memorably-named Nazi war criminal Von Killowitz (Kirby was creative, not subtle). Mister Miracle even takes on an apprentice, a black youth named Shilo Norman.
For most of these issues, Kirby avoids the wider Fourth World mythology in favor of superhero exploits. The series ends, though, as fans of the characters' later DCU appearances would expect, with Mister Miracle and Big Barda's wedding, an event that every major Apokolips villain tries to crash (actually, they prompt the wedding, as much as anything), with guest appearances by Orion, Lightray, and Highfather, before the New God heroes leave their mortal companions and return home (the other Furies seemingly go back to Darkseid's service, given where we see them next in the "Even Gods Must Die!" special).
Finally, there is the aforementioned special and the graphic novel "Hunger Dogs!", which marks the end of Kirby's contribution to the mythology (although future DCU series would ignore it, and many other aspects of Kirby's original series, in order to make fuller use of his original concepts before he started to wrap them up). It is not a wholly satisfactory ending, though it is interesting to see Kirby incorporate ideas about the increased mechanization of society (which even the arch-villain Darkseid finds unsettling) and the atomic weapons race. "Hunger Dogs!" does not conclude the prophecy of Darkseid and Orion's destiny, but it provides a bit of closure, while simultaneously leaving the future of the New Gods wide open.
If you have read the previous three volumes (and you should, if you mean to understand the Fourth World properly) then you know what to expect from the King: wild imagination in art and story, somewhat dated, but well worth your time if you enjoy older comics.
June 14, 2024
Quarto e ultimo volume della serie del Quarto Mondo di Kirby.
L'albo finale della Forever People vede i 5 protagonisti messi infine fuori gioco, su di un mondo lontano, il mondo da dove richiamano Infinity Man, che sembra annichilito insieme ad Evilance, uno degli sgherri più potenti di Darkseid.
E termina anche New Gods con lo scontro finale tra i due fratellastri, Orion e Kalibak, con il Nero Corridore che prende il figlio di prime nozze di Darkseid mentre lo stesso Darkseid annichilisce Desaad.
Entrambe le serie terminano con il numero 11, mentre Mister Miracle prosegue per qualche altro numero. Le storie di Mr. Miracle si fanno sempre più confuse, con la presenza di 3 delle Furie insieme a Barda prima, e poi la loro scomparsa inspiegata e l'arrivo di Ted Brown jr prima e di Shilo Norman poi.
Nel numero 18, l'ultimo di Kirby, assistiamo al repentino matrimonio tra Scott Free e Big Barda, con la presenza di Altopadre, Orion, Lightray, Metron e tutti gli sgherri principali di Darkseid che si sono opposti al nostro. Darkseid stesso cercherà di rovinare il matrimonio con un ciclone e una tempesta di fulmini.
In coda abbiamo la storia inedita che chiude la ristampa di New Gods degli anni '80 e fa da preludio ad Hunger Dogs, la graphic novel con cui Kirby terminò la sua saga. Ci sono anche le scan delle tavole originali, perché Hunger Dogs subì diverse rielaborazioni.
Quello che si nota è quanto Jack Kirby abbia semplificato il suo tratto negli anni '80, e quanto Royer fosse migliore, come inchiostratore, rispetto a D. Bruce Berry o a Theakston.
Il volume merita le 5 stelle anche se dal punto di vista delle storie abbiamo un calo rispetto agli altri tre volumi, e così per i disegni, come appena detto. Ma la parte redazionale è ottima, con la narrazione di Evanier e la stampa di copertine e tavole originali.
L'albo finale della Forever People vede i 5 protagonisti messi infine fuori gioco, su di un mondo lontano, il mondo da dove richiamano Infinity Man, che sembra annichilito insieme ad Evilance, uno degli sgherri più potenti di Darkseid.
E termina anche New Gods con lo scontro finale tra i due fratellastri, Orion e Kalibak, con il Nero Corridore che prende il figlio di prime nozze di Darkseid mentre lo stesso Darkseid annichilisce Desaad.
Entrambe le serie terminano con il numero 11, mentre Mister Miracle prosegue per qualche altro numero. Le storie di Mr. Miracle si fanno sempre più confuse, con la presenza di 3 delle Furie insieme a Barda prima, e poi la loro scomparsa inspiegata e l'arrivo di Ted Brown jr prima e di Shilo Norman poi.
Nel numero 18, l'ultimo di Kirby, assistiamo al repentino matrimonio tra Scott Free e Big Barda, con la presenza di Altopadre, Orion, Lightray, Metron e tutti gli sgherri principali di Darkseid che si sono opposti al nostro. Darkseid stesso cercherà di rovinare il matrimonio con un ciclone e una tempesta di fulmini.
In coda abbiamo la storia inedita che chiude la ristampa di New Gods degli anni '80 e fa da preludio ad Hunger Dogs, la graphic novel con cui Kirby terminò la sua saga. Ci sono anche le scan delle tavole originali, perché Hunger Dogs subì diverse rielaborazioni.
Quello che si nota è quanto Jack Kirby abbia semplificato il suo tratto negli anni '80, e quanto Royer fosse migliore, come inchiostratore, rispetto a D. Bruce Berry o a Theakston.
Il volume merita le 5 stelle anche se dal punto di vista delle storie abbiamo un calo rispetto agli altri tre volumi, e così per i disegni, come appena detto. Ma la parte redazionale è ottima, con la narrazione di Evanier e la stampa di copertine e tavole originali.
August 1, 2024
In volume 4, Jimmy Olsen had finished and both New Gods and Forever People were winding down. This is really the back half of the Mister Miracle run. You can see the book clearly start to move away from the Fourth World stuff and embrace Mister Miracle as an escape artist. Each issue had at least one crazy set up and miraculous escape. It also introduces Shilo Norman as Scott's apprentice. Then we hand wave it all away in the last issue as everyone heads back to New Genesis after a hurried wedding of Scott and Big Barda.
Then there's a new story from a reprint run and the Hunger Dogs graphic novel from 85 that was supposed to tie everything up. It's a complete mess. Trying to fit about 200 issues of comics into a short graphic novel just doesn't work. Plus, DC made him rework the pages from standard comic book size to the graphic novel size of the time which is more square bound. There's all this wasted space at the top and bottom. The coloring for it is leaps and bounds better than your typical comic of the day. Kirby's art had changed so much though that it looks completely different. Or maybe it was the three different inkers on it.
The unsung hero of these collections continue to be the afterword by Mark Evanier who was one of Kirby's assistants in the 70s. There's a bunch of original pencil art in the back and they all look so damn good. I don't know why they ever even bothered with an inker over Kirby's work. These collections held my interest much more than I expected. I'll probably move onto what Kirby worked on next after this at some point. That would be The Demon and Komandi.
Then there's a new story from a reprint run and the Hunger Dogs graphic novel from 85 that was supposed to tie everything up. It's a complete mess. Trying to fit about 200 issues of comics into a short graphic novel just doesn't work. Plus, DC made him rework the pages from standard comic book size to the graphic novel size of the time which is more square bound. There's all this wasted space at the top and bottom. The coloring for it is leaps and bounds better than your typical comic of the day. Kirby's art had changed so much though that it looks completely different. Or maybe it was the three different inkers on it.
The unsung hero of these collections continue to be the afterword by Mark Evanier who was one of Kirby's assistants in the 70s. There's a bunch of original pencil art in the back and they all look so damn good. I don't know why they ever even bothered with an inker over Kirby's work. These collections held my interest much more than I expected. I'll probably move onto what Kirby worked on next after this at some point. That would be The Demon and Komandi.
February 11, 2023
Jack Kirby's "Fourth World Omnibus" peters out in its final volume as "The Forever People" and "New Gods" come to hasty ends and "Mister Miracle" spends several issues in a more conventional vein before getting the axe itself.
Kirby's art and creativity are still strong, but the shifting substrate makes it hard for his ideas to take root. The Forever People end up just Poochying out to another planet; New Gods introduces some exciting sibling dynamics in its final issue but leaves us with a teaser for a showdown that doesn't arrive for another 12 years.
Mister Miracle has fun bringing the Furies from Apokolips into the story as well as a "ward" in Shilo Norman. But the action isn't especially satisfying--our hero over-relies on "circuits" to magically solve his problems, much as Iron Man used "transistors" in his early days. The settings are cool: Kirby develops a murder hotel, a Satanic mansion and a mysterious micro-verse. But the series has lost the larger ties to the New Gods, and so it feels like it's just being made up issue to issue.
Given a chance to wrap his stories, Kirby does pretty well, given the circumstances. We get a bittersweet wedding between Big Barda and Mister Miracle that sees Darkseid in a suitably ambiguous role. We also get a final showdown between Orion and Darkseid that's dynamic and thoroughly over the top. "Metal" is probably the best adjective, and even if it's disjointed and features Kirby drawing past the height of his powers, there's something suitably epic about where it lands.
Kirby's art and creativity are still strong, but the shifting substrate makes it hard for his ideas to take root. The Forever People end up just Poochying out to another planet; New Gods introduces some exciting sibling dynamics in its final issue but leaves us with a teaser for a showdown that doesn't arrive for another 12 years.
Mister Miracle has fun bringing the Furies from Apokolips into the story as well as a "ward" in Shilo Norman. But the action isn't especially satisfying--our hero over-relies on "circuits" to magically solve his problems, much as Iron Man used "transistors" in his early days. The settings are cool: Kirby develops a murder hotel, a Satanic mansion and a mysterious micro-verse. But the series has lost the larger ties to the New Gods, and so it feels like it's just being made up issue to issue.
Given a chance to wrap his stories, Kirby does pretty well, given the circumstances. We get a bittersweet wedding between Big Barda and Mister Miracle that sees Darkseid in a suitably ambiguous role. We also get a final showdown between Orion and Darkseid that's dynamic and thoroughly over the top. "Metal" is probably the best adjective, and even if it's disjointed and features Kirby drawing past the height of his powers, there's something suitably epic about where it lands.
February 5, 2020
Último tomo compilatoria del trabajo de Kirby en el Cuarto Mundo
Como es habitual en la industria del comic, vemos como historias que estan pensadas en un larog aliento, son cortadas por decisiones editoriales no muy claras, pero que deben ser acatadas.
Ya sin Supeman's Pal Jimmy Olsen a cuestas, solo tenemos comics relacionados directamente con el Cuarto Mundo, como Forever People y New Gods; que vemos sus números finales en este tomo, donde se da conclusión rápida a la historia desarrollada; los últimos números de Kirby a cargo de Mr. Miracle, introduciendo un nuevo protegido del superescapista y dando conclusión a la tensión entre Big Barda y Scott Free
Las dos historias añadidas al final "Incluso los dioses deben morir" y "Los perros hambrientos" demuestran claramente como lo que en su tiempo no pudo ser concluido debió quedar así, ya que las historia se sienten flojas y un poco innecesarias. Pero los personajes debían sobrevivir, ya sabemos como Darkseid se ha convertido en el gran villano de la JL.
De todas mameras, recomendado tomo, para ver el progreso del maestro Kirby en el dibujo y su desarrollo de grandes historias
Gracias por todo, Rey
Como es habitual en la industria del comic, vemos como historias que estan pensadas en un larog aliento, son cortadas por decisiones editoriales no muy claras, pero que deben ser acatadas.
Ya sin Supeman's Pal Jimmy Olsen a cuestas, solo tenemos comics relacionados directamente con el Cuarto Mundo, como Forever People y New Gods; que vemos sus números finales en este tomo, donde se da conclusión rápida a la historia desarrollada; los últimos números de Kirby a cargo de Mr. Miracle, introduciendo un nuevo protegido del superescapista y dando conclusión a la tensión entre Big Barda y Scott Free
Las dos historias añadidas al final "Incluso los dioses deben morir" y "Los perros hambrientos" demuestran claramente como lo que en su tiempo no pudo ser concluido debió quedar así, ya que las historia se sienten flojas y un poco innecesarias. Pero los personajes debían sobrevivir, ya sabemos como Darkseid se ha convertido en el gran villano de la JL.
De todas mameras, recomendado tomo, para ver el progreso del maestro Kirby en el dibujo y su desarrollo de grandes historias
Gracias por todo, Rey
November 23, 2017
Gems include "Mr. Miracle to Be!", "Devilance the Pursuer", "Darkseid & Sons!", "Dictator's Dungeon!", "Quick & the Dead!", "Secret Gun!", "Murder Lodge!", & "Wild, Wild Wedding Guests!".
January 20, 2009
The last volume in Kirby's Fourth World series is by far the least interesting, though there are glimpses of what it could have been. It includes the last issues of "Forever People" and "New Gods", and the last good "Mister Miracle" stories (though that series continued for another half dozen crappy issues and a string of increasingly stupid villains, none of which involved the Fourth World storyline).
Finally, the book comes to "Even Gods Must Die" and "Hunger Dogs", the two stories done a decade later to wrap up the whole thing. Kirby ends the story about as well as it could have ended, considering that he was given far too little space to conclude a massive story he had barely even started (not to mention the fact that DC reportedly wouldn't let him use the finale he wanted). Hunger Dogs has a "twist", for example, which is one of the saddest and best moments in the whole series, but it's so rushed and feels so crammed-in that it barely registers at all. There's also the fact that, well, Kirby was not getting any younger, and there is a noticeable change in the quality of his artwork. Dialogue was never exactly his strong point, but (I'm sorry to say) there are parts of "Hunger Dogs" that sound like they were badly translated from another language. In spite of all that, though, Kirby's ideas and his characters are as fantastic as ever, and the genius of his earlier stories is still there. The end of the Fourth World might not live up to the promise of its beginning, but it's still pretty damn amazing.
Finally, the book comes to "Even Gods Must Die" and "Hunger Dogs", the two stories done a decade later to wrap up the whole thing. Kirby ends the story about as well as it could have ended, considering that he was given far too little space to conclude a massive story he had barely even started (not to mention the fact that DC reportedly wouldn't let him use the finale he wanted). Hunger Dogs has a "twist", for example, which is one of the saddest and best moments in the whole series, but it's so rushed and feels so crammed-in that it barely registers at all. There's also the fact that, well, Kirby was not getting any younger, and there is a noticeable change in the quality of his artwork. Dialogue was never exactly his strong point, but (I'm sorry to say) there are parts of "Hunger Dogs" that sound like they were badly translated from another language. In spite of all that, though, Kirby's ideas and his characters are as fantastic as ever, and the genius of his earlier stories is still there. The end of the Fourth World might not live up to the promise of its beginning, but it's still pretty damn amazing.
January 30, 2009
I'd almost give this a pass, honestly, because it mostly serves to clearly spell out how much the Fourth World disappointed, given its promise in the first two (and some of the third) volumes. Not Kirby's fault, really, but the fault of an unready comics market and an unsteady DC, and that's a story that we've all seen repeated over and over again with various "brilliant but canceled" series.
The Mister Miracle stories devolve into one-off, cheesy superhero tales versus silly (often unintentionally hilarious) villains, and when the big Barda/Miracle wedding arises, it's a sudden thing, and the actual wedding takes two panels. It reads more like a variety show act doing it's last big sketch show before the network turns out the light than the satisfying conclusion to a big epic.
And everything that I've heard about the Hunger Dogs was, unfortunately, true. It's choppy, it doesn't make a great deal of sense and it really has no dramatic weight. Having to reintroduce the war between Apokolips and New Genesis and then wrap it up in one graphic novel was a challenge that nobody was really up to, not even Jack Kirby.
The Mister Miracle stories devolve into one-off, cheesy superhero tales versus silly (often unintentionally hilarious) villains, and when the big Barda/Miracle wedding arises, it's a sudden thing, and the actual wedding takes two panels. It reads more like a variety show act doing it's last big sketch show before the network turns out the light than the satisfying conclusion to a big epic.
And everything that I've heard about the Hunger Dogs was, unfortunately, true. It's choppy, it doesn't make a great deal of sense and it really has no dramatic weight. Having to reintroduce the war between Apokolips and New Genesis and then wrap it up in one graphic novel was a challenge that nobody was really up to, not even Jack Kirby.
January 8, 2024
This is the fourth & final volume of the Kirby's massive epic. Unfortunately, in some ways it's also the weakest. This volume illustrates how The Forever People, New Gods & Mister Miracle were abruptly (and rudely) cancelled by the powers that be at DC Comics after he'd been given virtual carte blance to create his tapestry of 3 interlocking series (4 if you count Jimmy Olsen, but that isn't represented in this volume). Mark Evanier goes into some detail on how this was a devastating blow to Kirby at the time in his afterword to this volume. Also included is the quick, and all too brief, graphic novel, The Hunger Dogs, in which Kirby attempted to wrap-up the story. It's a little disappointing as it does more to tease the reader about what isn't included, than it delivers on what is included. Still, it's Kirby and any fan of the King-of-Comics knows it worth gold. So, even if these stories didn't sell well when first published (the general audience wasn't ready for something as ground breaking as this experiment was at the time), we can look back on them with admiration today. Enjoy, I certainly did.
May 16, 2010
Not with a bang, but a whimper. Kirby's Fourth World titles were unceremoniously cancelled after just a couple of years, and so here we have the final issues of New Gods and Forever People, along with several issues of Mister Miracle (which they kept on for a while). These are all great, but their abrupt cancellation took a toll on Kirby, and I have to say that the belated attempts to wrap things up in the 1980s just weren't up to the same caliber as the earlier books.
There's discussion about how times had changed, and Kirby had moved past the characters, and just wasn't at the height of his creative powers anymore, but I also have to wonder if maybe it's just that he was so great at creating new things and moving stories along almost by stream of consciousness that the very idea of writing a finale just never settled with him.
There's discussion about how times had changed, and Kirby had moved past the characters, and just wasn't at the height of his creative powers anymore, but I also have to wonder if maybe it's just that he was so great at creating new things and moving stories along almost by stream of consciousness that the very idea of writing a finale just never settled with him.
August 24, 2010
Kind of a sad way to see the Fourth World series end. Most of this book is Mister Miracle, since that title outlasted the other three Fourth World books by about seven issues or so. Since the others were canceled, Kirby went to great lengths to make sure the title seemed like any other superhero title (kid sidekick in Shilo Norman, Barda wears "pretty" clothes, a "Satan" house issue). Then there's "The Huger Dogs". I had heard about this graphic novel that supposedly was his ending to the Fourth World for awhile now, and never in good terms. Sad to say that pans out. The whole thing just felt off, and I still can't tell you what the hell a "micro-mark" is. I think the whole thing was a rant against automation and computers. Even the artwork, usually Kirby's strong-point, felt lacking (though I think some of that was his advancing age and health problems, to be sure).
February 13, 2015
Even the concluding statement by Kirby's kind-of protege is not very excited about this book. Mister Miracle was perhaps the weakest link in the chain. The problem with a Mister Miracle story is that they almost always end with Mister Miracle saying, "I was just too fast" or "I had a special circuit to solve this problem."
The resolution seems so deus ex Mother Boxina that, you know, not that satisfying.
Here, Kirby tries to expand the Mister Miracle universe and it's possible he might have gotten somewhere with it if he had more time.
But the best stories were always the Jimmy Olsen stories. They're not here. And then the second best were the world-building "New Gods" stories. And they weren't here either.
The conclusion of the whole story is strange. Darkseid becomes a genuinely pathetic figure, which is very interesting and could have been explored more.
The resolution seems so deus ex Mother Boxina that, you know, not that satisfying.
Here, Kirby tries to expand the Mister Miracle universe and it's possible he might have gotten somewhere with it if he had more time.
But the best stories were always the Jimmy Olsen stories. They're not here. And then the second best were the world-building "New Gods" stories. And they weren't here either.
The conclusion of the whole story is strange. Darkseid becomes a genuinely pathetic figure, which is very interesting and could have been explored more.
May 11, 2008
of the four volumes, this is definitely the weakest. "the weakening death throes of a formerly-powerful animal..." though the "Hunger Dogs" reprint does regain some of the power/resonance/grandeur of the previous volumes. Late period Kirby is like late period Picasso - simpler but vibrant - brash images in defiance of death and old age. & i'm still in love with the design of these volumes. that paper! & those colors...they really pop!
February 2, 2013
And all that could have been... All I can say is that Kirby should have been allowed to continue his saga and finish it when he saw fit. The two concluding stories are a shadow of the Kirby of old. Disjointed and unsastisfying. Of course the art is still fantastic but the coloring fits them even less than the one used in the 70's. This makes me sad.
January 14, 2013
And this is where it all falls apart. At this point DC Comics bailed on Kirby and his vision with the Fourth World so this volume finds the King scrambling to save what he can of his story. It's still pretty great stuff, just not as great as the previous three volumes. So it ends up being pretty sad.
January 27, 2015
DC not letting Kirby finish this story on his own terms was one of the worst creative decisions they made. This could have been seen as one of the greatest epics in comics history, and it is still awesome, but rushed endings are never as good as the real deal.
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