The Fourth World Omnibus

Jack Kirby spent five years at DC Comics, from 1971 to 1975, but in that short period of time he managed to produce perhaps the single greatest explosion of creativity by any comic creator in history. At 1536 pages this is easily the largest Omnibus I own and it represents only a fraction of Kirby’s total output during that period. Collected here is his Fourth World stories including his work on Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen and his creations, Forever People, New Gods and Mister Miracle. In addition, Kirby produced OMAC, Kamandi, The Demon, Kobra and Our Fighting Forces along with other smaller projects. None of these are included in this Omnibus since they are not part of the Fourth World but Good Lord, what a workload. Mind you, Jack Kirby was doing both the art AND writing for these comics. For reasons I won’t get into, Kirby decided to return to Marvel but he left behind one of the greatest accomplishments in comic history, up there with The Watchmen.This is the second time DC has done a Fourth World Omnibus but in the original attempt it was separated into four different books and if you try to buy them all today you’d be spending quite a bit of money. The new Omnibus is a massively better bargain. For the most part, the stories are being presented in the order in which they were published rather than grouping titles together. The book starts off with three Jimmy Olsen issues and then moves into the first issue of Forever People before moving into the first issue of New Gods. It’s a great decision since it keeps the natural narrative flow. I own most of the issues of Forever People and Mister Miracle and I’ve read reprints of New Gods but this is the first time I’ve read the Fourth World narrative all the way through. The Omnibus also fills in the gaps in my collection, for instance the Jimmy Olsen issues which started the story arc. When reading the entire storyline from the beginning it strikes you how impressive it is executed. Today, DC might do a huge crossover with a handful of writers and a dozen or so artists but Kirby did all of this by himself. It is a single vision from a single artist and the quality is spectacular.If you have the upper body strength to lift this nearly 10-pound behemoth this is a lovely book to sit down with. DC releases a lot of Omnibuses with material that is historically significant but of middling quality. This Omnibus features one of the great comic creators at the top of his game, his magnum opus. There are a few things that lead me to believe that DC recognized that the Fourth World Omnibus was a cut above the rest. First, it uses a unique cover style rather that the standard one that DC has been using for several years in their Omnibus releases. Second, it uses a glossier paper than the other Omnibuses I own which already used high quality paper. This is clearly being released as an Omnibus above other Omnibuses and deservedly so. If you can only afford to buy one Omnibus this may be the best one to get.Jack Kirby’s writing and art are some of the most distinctive in the history of comics. Even today, his Fourth World stories have massive repercussions in the DCU. This is the 100th anniversary of Jack Kirby (he was born in 1917) and DC has been releasing homages to his creations throughout the year. I picked up two new comics today, Bug and Mister Miracle, both creations of Jack Kirby. The $300 million dollar Justice League movie uses Steppenwolf as its main villain, a character created by Jack Kirby. (Don’t blame Kirby for how he was handled in the movie) It’s obvious that DC intends this movie to be a lead in to a confrontation with Darkseid, the main villain from Kirby’s Fourth World. The list of characters created by Jack Kirby for Marvel is stunning but this is probably his most personal and creative work. It has clearly stood the test of time and belongs in any comic fans library.

This book is a tome filled with the wonderment that only The King--Jack Kirby--could create.

I have gone my whole comic life never having read Jack Kirby's Fourth World untill now. And while the art is fantastic and the ideas presented are great the writing just isn't for me. Especially the Jimmy Olsen books which I wish were not part of this Omnibus. I feel it would read and be better. The other 3 books are good and then the Jimmy Olsen stuff is just so boring to me and I dreaded whenever I flipped a page and saw it was a issue of that series.My only complaint about the Omnibus is the fact that instead of putting all New Gods issues together than all Mr. Miracale, ect. It instead goes from when they where published and while they are in the same "Fourth World" banner it doesn't read well. And I know that is how they where published, but it doesn't matter at all or beneficial to the story being told to be read that way.Overall though though these stories are good, but not as great as many people hype them up to be in my opinion.

At 11 years of age and growing up in a small Southeastern Kansas town, the access to my obsession with comics was limited to a few local grocery stores. I remember the smell of these stores to this day. A mixture of fresh fruit, cardboard boxes, and most importantly…the scent of newsprint in, what I considered to be, the best comic book collections in existence for a town with a population of about 12,000.Marvel was my primary focus. At the heart of this love of comics was an unwavering loyalty to Jack Kirby. The Fantastic Four, The Hulk, Thor, The Avengers, Captain America, to name but a few of the masterpieces this immortal icon brought to a youthful mind seeking excitement in a format that our Black and White TV could not hope to match. Then came 1970 and Jack was gone to the evil DC.Fortunately for me, Jack had a whole new adventure waiting in the wings…The Fourth World. Although this wasn't the initial terminology for the sweeping saga when introduced through Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen, the day I walked into Olson's grocery store, (no relation), and found issue number 1 of New Gods, there was no turning back.Although I desperately searched for all issues of the interconnected storyline, I ended up with sporadic editions of New Gods, Mister Miracle, The Forever People, and Jimmy Olsen. Over the years I was never able to obtain all issues and felt a bit lost and incomplete. Kamandi and The Demon helped with my Kirby fix, but missing out on the fates of the characters of New Genesis and Apokolips left a void.Then came July 1, 2017. The announcement of a pre-order for The Fourth World Omnibus! The order was placed and the wait was on!December 12, 2017…the beast landed.Opening the box, I swear the grocery store smell hit me like a wall. 1,536 pages of pure Kirby joy. This book could easily serve as a blunt object murder weapon, but that would be a waste of indescribable proportions! The colors are fantastic. The pages are not pinched at the spine, and every brilliant panel is easily viewed. The weight of the paper assures me that I'll be enjoying this beautiful tome for years, AND passing it on to my brainwashed offspring and theirs for the future.The Omnibus presents the entire storyline of The Fourth World in sequential order. Jimmy Olsen, New Gods, The Forever People, and Mister Miracle all for your viewing and reading pleasure. The despicable villains like Mantis, and one of my personal favorite heroes, Forager, bring me back to all those original issue, newsprint discoveries of the 1970s. My hands will be thoroughly cleaned before each reading, but this is one sturdy volume that begs to be read, viewed, and read again.I've taken pretty good care of my originals. I've introduced my kids to the greatness of Jack Kirby with those issues, always with a bit of concern that a page would be torn or a cover smudged. Now, with this beautiful, epic volume, I can bring grandchildren into the fold without hesitation, and pass King Kirby onto new generations who may otherwise never have experienced the power of a Mother Box or traveling through a boom tube as it was meant to be.I would recommend The Fourth World Omnibus to any Jack Kirby fan. I predict no disappointment.Long live The King!

This is not a review based on the book itself - which is a classic of the comic book medium. Rather it is because this edition has a printing error where page 943 is missing and replaced with another page. DC comics have acknowledged the error and are currently reprinting it, but until it's confirmed that the old defective stock is not in circulation, do not order this product.

Amazon relisted again yesterday following the recall by DC (due to the misprinted page). Have received it this morning and can confirm it’s the corrected version with the missing page 943 replaced and “second printing” detailed in the indica.As for the content, if you don’t already know what this book is about, buy it anyway.

Not good that there is a page missing from this book as a result of a printing error.

Man there is a lot of story and information in this omnibus man I really say pick this up if you can, also it's really heavy for Comicbook that has over 1000 pages

Just Brilliant!