What do you think?
Rate this book
Absolute Fourth World by Jack Kirby #1
Absolute Fourth World by Jack Kirby Vol. 1
Legendary comics creator Jack Kirby's mind-boggling "Fourth World" saga is collected in an Absolute edition series starting with Absolute Fourth World by Jack Kirby Vol. 1.
After co-creating comic book heroes such as The Fantastic Four and The Hulk, legendary writer/artist Jack Kirby came to DC Comics in 1970 to write and illustrate four interlocking series known collectively as "The Fourth World."
Now, as part of the celebration of the 100th birthday of Jack Kirby, DC collects Kirby's entire runs on these four series--The New Gods, The Forever People, Mister Miracle and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen--In a single volume. These comics spanned galaxies, from the streets of Metropolis to the far-flung twin worlds of New Genesis and Apokolips, as cosmic-powered heroes and villains struggle for supremacy, and the world-conquering Darkseid adventured across Earth for the deadly Anti-Life Equation.
Collects Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #133-139 and #141-148, The New Gods #1-11, The Forever People #1-11, Mister Miracle #1-18, plus later stories from New Gods #4 and DC Graphic novel #4
After co-creating comic book heroes such as The Fantastic Four and The Hulk, legendary writer/artist Jack Kirby came to DC Comics in 1970 to write and illustrate four interlocking series known collectively as "The Fourth World."
Now, as part of the celebration of the 100th birthday of Jack Kirby, DC collects Kirby's entire runs on these four series--The New Gods, The Forever People, Mister Miracle and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen--In a single volume. These comics spanned galaxies, from the streets of Metropolis to the far-flung twin worlds of New Genesis and Apokolips, as cosmic-powered heroes and villains struggle for supremacy, and the world-conquering Darkseid adventured across Earth for the deadly Anti-Life Equation.
Collects Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #133-139 and #141-148, The New Gods #1-11, The Forever People #1-11, Mister Miracle #1-18, plus later stories from New Gods #4 and DC Graphic novel #4
816 pages, Hardcover
Published May 19, 2020
10 people are currently reading
82 people want to read
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."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 3, 2022
I’ve been a huge Jack Kirby fan since first discovering his work in 1961 in a comic that featured the first appearance of the Chinese dragon, Fin Fang Foom. A month later, I picked up the first issue of The Fantastic Four, and that confirmed Kirby as my favourite comic book creator of all time. I followed his work as he created the rest of the Marvel Universe, including The Mighty Thor, The Incredible Hulk, The Avengers and the X-Men. I was as surprised as anyone when I saw that he’d jumped ship from Marvel in 1970 and gone to work for DC Comics, Marvel’s biggest rival. Unfortunately, the launch of the four interlocking Fourth World titles, Superman’s Pal: Jimmy Olsen, The New Gods, The Forever People and Mister Miracle, happened at a time when I had no job and no money, so I didn’t see very many issues. Those I did see were pretty amazing.
Years later, I was able to find them all as back issues. Later still, I bought the Omnibus editions that DC put out in 2007-8. They are beautiful. The art is reproduced at exactly the same size as the original comic books but on much better quality paper and much, much better print quality. They are comic books as we always wanted to see them in the 60s and 70s. They even smell like 60s comic books, presumably because of the type of ink that’s used. They’re printed on matt paper and the recolouring is very close to the originals, only darker. The editors took the sensible decision to print the stories in the same order in which the issues were originally published. This makes it much easier to follow Kirby’s entire epic as it unfolds. In short, they are just about perfect archival versions of these classic tales.
So why did I buy the Absolute Edition, and why might you want to? Well, some things are the same, in that the issues still run in the order of publication. But many things have changed. Instead of being printed on matt paper stock, the Absolute Edition goes for a semi-gloss paper. The colouring conforms to the originals and the Omnibus editions but has been toned down for the Absolute Edition, which really helps the line work to stand out beautifully. The Absolute Edition is bigger too, which also helps show the quality of the line work.
While we’re on the subject of line work, the majority of the inking in this first Absolute volume is by Vince Colletta, possible the most contentious inker in comic books for reasons that have never been entirely clear to me. I had loved his work on Kirby’s Thor, for which he was the primary inker through most of its long run. Since the Fourth World books follow on from Ragnarok and the destruction of Kirby’s Asgardian gods, it made perfect sense to employ Colletta to ink the new books. It enhances the sense of continuity. Also, despite what some folk might say, Colletta was a damn good inker when working with the right subject. In these Fourth World books, he does an amazing job, turning in brilliant splash page after brilliant splash page, really excelling himself. Nevertheless, he was replaced partway through the Fourth World series. Ah well…
I should add that, contrary to a number of online posts on fan sites and sales sites, this Absolute edition includes only the first half of the Fourth World saga, not the whole thing. Specifically, it contains issues 1-6 of The Forever People, The New Gods and Mister Miracle, and issues 133-145 of Superman’s Pal: Jimmy Olsen. It’s volume one of two.
Some folk maintain that allowing Kirby to write, draw and edit his own work was a mistake, arguing that he needed a co-author like Stan Lee to rein in his excesses and keep him in check. This is nonsense. Kirby unleashed is pure Kirby, and that’s a good thing. In fact, a great thing. Kirby was arguably the most imaginative creative force ever to work in comic books. He was an unstoppable ideas machine. There are single issues of the Fourth World saga that throw out more ideas than you get in entire runs of other comic books. Although not given the time to explore many of them himself due to the premature cancellation of his cosmic masterwork, subsequent generations of creators have continued to mine it for characters and plots ever since. Sure, some of his ideas are pretty out there, like Death being a disabled Vietnam War veteran who flies on skis, or a group of scientists called The Hairies who live in a gigantic vehicle that travels through an underground world beneath the United States. But that out there quality is one of the things that makes this series so unique and such huge fun to revisit.
The outstanding story in this collection is 'The Glory Boat,' a tale that takes the generation gap that emerged in the US parallel with its involvement in the Vietnam War and makes it personal by focusing on a single family and how they respond to each other in very extreme circumstances. The result is one of the best examples of Kirby's ability to tackle huge issues in a medium many regarded as at best disposable, at worst morally corrosive. Kirby almost single-handedly dragged comics out of the darkness they fell into following the McCarthy-style witch-hunt that condemned them in the 1950s and, in the Fourth World, made them into a genuine, relevant and relatable art form.
There’s a good collection of extras at the back of the book, including some of Kirby’s original designs for Fourth World characters, done in the late 60s before he left Marvel. These are beautiful inked sketches, drawn and hand coloured by Kirby. There’s a bunch of other stuff too, most of which previously appeared in the Omnibus editions.
The lighter recolouring in the Absolute edition is closer to the original comics than is the 2007 Omnibus. Both hardback editions suffer from a problem the comics never had. With a comic, you can open it out and fold it flat. The pages in most books these days are glued rather than stitched. This means you can’t fold the pages flat without breaking the book. This isn’t a problem with most pages but is a real problem with double-page spreads, where you lose part of the artwork in the gutter, and sometimes lose text boxes or speech bubbles as well. Overall, DC do a really good job on their reprint books, certainly far superior to Marvel’s often shoddy efforts, but it would be nice to have at least the Absolute editions stitched rather than glued.
Years later, I was able to find them all as back issues. Later still, I bought the Omnibus editions that DC put out in 2007-8. They are beautiful. The art is reproduced at exactly the same size as the original comic books but on much better quality paper and much, much better print quality. They are comic books as we always wanted to see them in the 60s and 70s. They even smell like 60s comic books, presumably because of the type of ink that’s used. They’re printed on matt paper and the recolouring is very close to the originals, only darker. The editors took the sensible decision to print the stories in the same order in which the issues were originally published. This makes it much easier to follow Kirby’s entire epic as it unfolds. In short, they are just about perfect archival versions of these classic tales.
So why did I buy the Absolute Edition, and why might you want to? Well, some things are the same, in that the issues still run in the order of publication. But many things have changed. Instead of being printed on matt paper stock, the Absolute Edition goes for a semi-gloss paper. The colouring conforms to the originals and the Omnibus editions but has been toned down for the Absolute Edition, which really helps the line work to stand out beautifully. The Absolute Edition is bigger too, which also helps show the quality of the line work.
While we’re on the subject of line work, the majority of the inking in this first Absolute volume is by Vince Colletta, possible the most contentious inker in comic books for reasons that have never been entirely clear to me. I had loved his work on Kirby’s Thor, for which he was the primary inker through most of its long run. Since the Fourth World books follow on from Ragnarok and the destruction of Kirby’s Asgardian gods, it made perfect sense to employ Colletta to ink the new books. It enhances the sense of continuity. Also, despite what some folk might say, Colletta was a damn good inker when working with the right subject. In these Fourth World books, he does an amazing job, turning in brilliant splash page after brilliant splash page, really excelling himself. Nevertheless, he was replaced partway through the Fourth World series. Ah well…
I should add that, contrary to a number of online posts on fan sites and sales sites, this Absolute edition includes only the first half of the Fourth World saga, not the whole thing. Specifically, it contains issues 1-6 of The Forever People, The New Gods and Mister Miracle, and issues 133-145 of Superman’s Pal: Jimmy Olsen. It’s volume one of two.
Some folk maintain that allowing Kirby to write, draw and edit his own work was a mistake, arguing that he needed a co-author like Stan Lee to rein in his excesses and keep him in check. This is nonsense. Kirby unleashed is pure Kirby, and that’s a good thing. In fact, a great thing. Kirby was arguably the most imaginative creative force ever to work in comic books. He was an unstoppable ideas machine. There are single issues of the Fourth World saga that throw out more ideas than you get in entire runs of other comic books. Although not given the time to explore many of them himself due to the premature cancellation of his cosmic masterwork, subsequent generations of creators have continued to mine it for characters and plots ever since. Sure, some of his ideas are pretty out there, like Death being a disabled Vietnam War veteran who flies on skis, or a group of scientists called The Hairies who live in a gigantic vehicle that travels through an underground world beneath the United States. But that out there quality is one of the things that makes this series so unique and such huge fun to revisit.
The outstanding story in this collection is 'The Glory Boat,' a tale that takes the generation gap that emerged in the US parallel with its involvement in the Vietnam War and makes it personal by focusing on a single family and how they respond to each other in very extreme circumstances. The result is one of the best examples of Kirby's ability to tackle huge issues in a medium many regarded as at best disposable, at worst morally corrosive. Kirby almost single-handedly dragged comics out of the darkness they fell into following the McCarthy-style witch-hunt that condemned them in the 1950s and, in the Fourth World, made them into a genuine, relevant and relatable art form.
There’s a good collection of extras at the back of the book, including some of Kirby’s original designs for Fourth World characters, done in the late 60s before he left Marvel. These are beautiful inked sketches, drawn and hand coloured by Kirby. There’s a bunch of other stuff too, most of which previously appeared in the Omnibus editions.
The lighter recolouring in the Absolute edition is closer to the original comics than is the 2007 Omnibus. Both hardback editions suffer from a problem the comics never had. With a comic, you can open it out and fold it flat. The pages in most books these days are glued rather than stitched. This means you can’t fold the pages flat without breaking the book. This isn’t a problem with most pages but is a real problem with double-page spreads, where you lose part of the artwork in the gutter, and sometimes lose text boxes or speech bubbles as well. Overall, DC do a really good job on their reprint books, certainly far superior to Marvel’s often shoddy efforts, but it would be nice to have at least the Absolute editions stitched rather than glued.
September 3, 2022
KIRBY’S ARRIVAL TO DC BACK IN THE 70s WAS ONE FOR THE AGES AND STILL HOLDS UP AS SUCH!
The first half of what some people say is Kirby’s magnum opus, comes to us in this beautiful absolute format and it is a MUST buy for any DC, Jack Kirby, or just in general COMIC fan. As mentioned before, this was Kirby coming to DC after leaving Marvel and of course Kirby being Kirby, took on the job of having multiple titles to be responsible for, and it’s because Kirby came with a vision. In the start of the Fourth World, Kirby introduces us to a TON of new characters and worlds, throughout all the titles he was writing at the time. ‘Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen’, ‘The New Gods’, ‘The Forever People’, and ‘Mr Miracle’ were all the titles that Kirby took on/created and he went on to connect them and make a whole new era, ‘The Fourth World Saga.’ This is where we get characters like Darkseid, the main baddy from the evil world ‘Apokolips’ and his despicable disciples (Deesad, Granny Goodness, Mantis, Kalibak, Glorious Godfrey, The Deep Six, and so MANY more). We also see the hero counterparts in the introduction of ‘The New Gods’ of Supertown in the world of New Genesis. Characters like Orion, Mister Miracle, The Forever People, Big Barda, Metron, Highfather, and MANY more. We see Darksied discover Earth and seek it for the ‘Anti-life equation’, a powerful tool that would help him conquer the universe. Him and his elite go after our heroes and plan to one way or another find what they came for. Superman and Jimmy Olsen are also involved, as funny enough, that's the title where it all starts. There are separate adventures in each of the titles however as it progresses more and more it all becomes intertwined into this grand saga.
Kirby is of course on writing and art duties as no one else could match his work ethic for this magnificent vision he had. He did have long time collaborators in inks, with Vince Colleta and Mike Royer, but everything else- ALL KING, BABY. The fact that this all started as just Kirby taking over the Jimmy Olsen title and then making his own, and it all ends up being a wrapped up saga, is insane to me. A lot of the stuff was sort of on the fly and Kiby still kept it all neat and in order to become something much larger than anyone could’ve expected. The impact that these ideas and concepts had on the history of DC is almost as big as the creation of the trinity. Themes and even storylines from this original saga are still being used today and really paved the way into expanding the campy work DC was doing back in the day. The array of characters he gave us from this is HUGE and to do it in such a short amount of time is super impressive. All the titles move very well and Kirby really displays his stellar ability in pacing. Each title, although at times the same, are actually all different in theme and course but they all feel enjoyable and digestible. There’s never dull moments or issues that feel filler in a way that stops the excitement. It’s all going up from start to finish, and most of the time it’s not like anything crazy is happening, it's just good storytelling. Towards the middle- end of this volume, everything starts coming into place, it’s all kinda connected and the plan of Darksied is in full effect, and while that all happens each title adds to it but can also be its own thing. In a way Kirby did a tie-in event before those were even a thing, but he even did it better cause nothing felt like you HAD to read it, nothing forced down your throat to make you feel left out. It was brilliant and ahead of its time, AND THIS IS ONLY THE FIRST VOLUME! There’s so much more to be unraveled and I can’t wait.
Now with most Kirby projects, the main attraction is in the artwork. Now that’s not to take away from his superb writing, but when you're the GOAT artist to ever grace a page, it’s kinda hard to not melt over the artwork.
This work was simply A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! And every other synonym for the word, in every language known to man. From the start you could tell this was a passion project for Kirby, because there is not a single step back on any page from any title. Even the work of Jimmy Olsen, which when you look at all the titles is probably the least coolest, Kirby still gives you GRAND stuff! He finds ways to make all the environments HIS type of environments. Splash pages and spreads so damn in detail, you find yourself getting chills and I mean it too! New Gods issue #5, page 2 and 3, made me “WTF” out loud and actually made my spine shiver. I KID YOU NOT, THIS SHIT IS REAL!! For sure the greatest spread I’ve ever seen in comics. His character designs are so cool that any close up or splash page of a character's face feels so awesome and impactful! You also get to see Kirby play a lot with some “trippy” artwork and it gets pretty wild. It’s not something I’ve seen much from Kirby so seeing him do it is so fucking cool. It’s just so admirable to see him tackle all these different designs and give us 1000% effort cause it truly makes the read so special. This is such an event and so recognized because you can tell Kirby cared for it and wanted it to bloom. He thought that the consumer should not get scammed and get their money’s worth, but in the end it’s sad to say Kirby never got his worth. This is truly some groundbreaking stuff that set the foundation for what our other favorite and more current artist would do. You can see it all here in the heart that he left us. This immaculate work that only got better and better each issue, each page, and each panel. Truly some GOAT work.
Overall, man please go check this out. It’s so damn beautiful and super enjoyable! It’s why I’m so happy we got it in this absolute format because that’s what Jack’s work is- ABSOLUTE.
The first half of what some people say is Kirby’s magnum opus, comes to us in this beautiful absolute format and it is a MUST buy for any DC, Jack Kirby, or just in general COMIC fan. As mentioned before, this was Kirby coming to DC after leaving Marvel and of course Kirby being Kirby, took on the job of having multiple titles to be responsible for, and it’s because Kirby came with a vision. In the start of the Fourth World, Kirby introduces us to a TON of new characters and worlds, throughout all the titles he was writing at the time. ‘Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen’, ‘The New Gods’, ‘The Forever People’, and ‘Mr Miracle’ were all the titles that Kirby took on/created and he went on to connect them and make a whole new era, ‘The Fourth World Saga.’ This is where we get characters like Darkseid, the main baddy from the evil world ‘Apokolips’ and his despicable disciples (Deesad, Granny Goodness, Mantis, Kalibak, Glorious Godfrey, The Deep Six, and so MANY more). We also see the hero counterparts in the introduction of ‘The New Gods’ of Supertown in the world of New Genesis. Characters like Orion, Mister Miracle, The Forever People, Big Barda, Metron, Highfather, and MANY more. We see Darksied discover Earth and seek it for the ‘Anti-life equation’, a powerful tool that would help him conquer the universe. Him and his elite go after our heroes and plan to one way or another find what they came for. Superman and Jimmy Olsen are also involved, as funny enough, that's the title where it all starts. There are separate adventures in each of the titles however as it progresses more and more it all becomes intertwined into this grand saga.
Kirby is of course on writing and art duties as no one else could match his work ethic for this magnificent vision he had. He did have long time collaborators in inks, with Vince Colleta and Mike Royer, but everything else- ALL KING, BABY. The fact that this all started as just Kirby taking over the Jimmy Olsen title and then making his own, and it all ends up being a wrapped up saga, is insane to me. A lot of the stuff was sort of on the fly and Kiby still kept it all neat and in order to become something much larger than anyone could’ve expected. The impact that these ideas and concepts had on the history of DC is almost as big as the creation of the trinity. Themes and even storylines from this original saga are still being used today and really paved the way into expanding the campy work DC was doing back in the day. The array of characters he gave us from this is HUGE and to do it in such a short amount of time is super impressive. All the titles move very well and Kirby really displays his stellar ability in pacing. Each title, although at times the same, are actually all different in theme and course but they all feel enjoyable and digestible. There’s never dull moments or issues that feel filler in a way that stops the excitement. It’s all going up from start to finish, and most of the time it’s not like anything crazy is happening, it's just good storytelling. Towards the middle- end of this volume, everything starts coming into place, it’s all kinda connected and the plan of Darksied is in full effect, and while that all happens each title adds to it but can also be its own thing. In a way Kirby did a tie-in event before those were even a thing, but he even did it better cause nothing felt like you HAD to read it, nothing forced down your throat to make you feel left out. It was brilliant and ahead of its time, AND THIS IS ONLY THE FIRST VOLUME! There’s so much more to be unraveled and I can’t wait.
Now with most Kirby projects, the main attraction is in the artwork. Now that’s not to take away from his superb writing, but when you're the GOAT artist to ever grace a page, it’s kinda hard to not melt over the artwork.
This work was simply A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! And every other synonym for the word, in every language known to man. From the start you could tell this was a passion project for Kirby, because there is not a single step back on any page from any title. Even the work of Jimmy Olsen, which when you look at all the titles is probably the least coolest, Kirby still gives you GRAND stuff! He finds ways to make all the environments HIS type of environments. Splash pages and spreads so damn in detail, you find yourself getting chills and I mean it too! New Gods issue #5, page 2 and 3, made me “WTF” out loud and actually made my spine shiver. I KID YOU NOT, THIS SHIT IS REAL!! For sure the greatest spread I’ve ever seen in comics. His character designs are so cool that any close up or splash page of a character's face feels so awesome and impactful! You also get to see Kirby play a lot with some “trippy” artwork and it gets pretty wild. It’s not something I’ve seen much from Kirby so seeing him do it is so fucking cool. It’s just so admirable to see him tackle all these different designs and give us 1000% effort cause it truly makes the read so special. This is such an event and so recognized because you can tell Kirby cared for it and wanted it to bloom. He thought that the consumer should not get scammed and get their money’s worth, but in the end it’s sad to say Kirby never got his worth. This is truly some groundbreaking stuff that set the foundation for what our other favorite and more current artist would do. You can see it all here in the heart that he left us. This immaculate work that only got better and better each issue, each page, and each panel. Truly some GOAT work.
Overall, man please go check this out. It’s so damn beautiful and super enjoyable! It’s why I’m so happy we got it in this absolute format because that’s what Jack’s work is- ABSOLUTE.
June 5, 2022
Even though I'm a big Jack Kirby fan, this was my first time reading through the first half of his Fourth World saga. It definitely didn't disappoint, especially in this beautiful Absolute format. The artwork is oversized and restored to perfection, and the stories are just as bonkers as we'd all want them to be. This probably shouldn't be anyone's first introduction to Kirby's actual writing, but any die-hard fans like myself will definitely think it's worth reading from beginning to end.
June 12, 2025
Jack Kirby's art & Vince Colletta's inking is worth the price of admission all on its own. Kirby's creativity & imagination are on full display as he creates the New Gods and the title that came to be considered the Fourth World. The dialogue harkens back to the golden age and it definitely has that young audience (some may say childish) feel. It's only a problem if you go in thinking this is an adult title. Instead, I really enjoy the straightforward storytelling and simplicity.
July 29, 2021
I loved diving into the fourth world. The story and characters are very much so ahead of their time. This book was a book that I tried to savor as much as possible. This book is Kirby as Kirby gets and it’s always a pleasure to spend some time with Kirby.
Read
April 9, 2024All the heavy lifting, impenetrability and thought-provoking profundity of its dustier, colorless fellow literary classics. One of those rare occasions where a virtuoso is more or less unleashed. Onward to Volume II!
September 10, 2024
The productivity and creativity on display in this collection is unreal. When you hear people say "Kirby is King" this is why. It's definitely early 1970's comics, so don't come in expecting modern comics conventions, but it's incredible even so.
March 3, 2024
Why is Don Rickles in this?
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews