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Friday Recommendation: Jack Kirby’s Fourth World

By | April 8th, 2011
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A while after its announcement, Kirby: Genesis has finally been solicited in this month’s previews. As much as I trust in Kurt Busiek’s ability to give the creations of comics most legendary creator the reverence they deserve, I can’t help but think of one of the more popular Jack Kirby anecdotes: “The Kirby tradition is to create a new comic.” As much credit as Kirby receives for being one of the founding fathers of comic art as we know it, I feel that I all too frequently encounter comic fans that have never actually read a Kirby comic, and have never seen what that “Kirby tradition” in action. At his core, Kirby was more than a phenomenal artist. He was a creator, constantly bringing to comics things that had until then never been seen. And nothing, in my opinion, epitomizes the font of creativity that was The King of Comics better than his massive Fourth World saga.

When Jack Kirby and Marvel had their big falling out, Kirby had been in the midst of cooking up something big. Really, really big. The seeds for what was eventually to become the Fourth World were – supposedly – born in the conclusion of Kirby and Lee’s “Tales of Asgard.” Due to the lack of credit for his heavy plotting duties, though, Kirby was reluctant to publish this massive story with Marvel – and understandably so. So when he left Marvel, be began laying down the foundation for the Fourth World within DC’s title Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen. After all, what better chance to publish this project with minimal editorial interference than through shacking up with the distinguished competition? Approximately half a year after the introduction of the characters now associated with his Fourth World saga within the pages of Jimmy Olsen, Kirby’s epic moved out of its preluding stage and into the first chapter with the release of The New Gods #1.

The rest, to use the cliche, is history. Many of the characters introduced as part of Kirby’s Fourth World have since found a firm niche in the DC Universe, including the clever Mister Miracle, the wise Metron, and – of course – the mighty Darkseid. While many great writers and artists have told fantastic stories featuring the New Gods and the terrible denizens of Apokolips, though, nothing compares to the original comics by The King. Every page of The New Gods, Mister Miracle and The Forever People is saturated in creativity, and nearly every issue does something that had never been done in comics until that point – and many things that have yet to be done since. The stories are on a scale that is incomparable to what we normally think of when we think of modern storytelling, resembling the ancient tales of the Greeks and the Norse more than anything else – as if Kirby was creating a modern mythology to be born out of the Ragnarok of the gods of old. Thus, the New Gods.

It’s not just a matter of what Kirby is drawing, though. We are talking about perhaps the most easily-recognized and remembered artist in comics, period – at least here in America. And there’s a reason for that. I don’t want to say that Kirby’s penciling in his Fourth World work is his best, as someone as great and widely published as The King has too much astounding work to choose from, but the artwork in these comics will instantly remind you why he is remembered as a legend. Every panel is a thing of beauty, and every action appears to be happening in real-time. No matter how much text may be in a single panel, and no matter how long you spend reading that same panel, any motion that would hypothetically be frozen in space and time deceives the eye and appears as if in a constant state of movement. That’s how dynamic Kirby’s line work is. If you have never had the privilege of seeing the product of such a master of his craft, then I am terribly sorry.

The only negative thing that I can really pin on Kirby’s Fourth World is not of any fault of Kirby’s own, but the simple passing of time. Sometimes, it takes a bit of effort to see masterpieces like this in the context of their publication. Kirby and Lee’s work on Fantastic Four, for example, seems like nothing new to modern readers, even though it was the birthing place of many of the tropes that we now consider commonplace in superhero comics. This is less of a problem with Kirby’s Fourth World, but a bit of a problem nonetheless. The dialogue can seem dated and campy – and, to a certain degree, it is. Underneath the filter of age, though, is something truly awesome to behold. For those who aren’t as big on reading older comics, the best advice I can give is to just keep reading. Eventually – at least, as far as my experience dictates – something just “clicks,” and you suddenly realize the brilliance behind what you had previously considered old and tired. And, in my opinion, no one prompts this appreciation better than The King himself.

Kirby’s Fourth World is collected in four Omnibuses. They’re a bit pricy, but they’re worth it, and printed with the glorious original color! One could certainly look for the older, cheaper trade paperbacks, if you don’t have the big bucks to shell out on the hardcovers – though be warned, the art is in black and white. If you don’t have the money, ask a friend, see if you can pull off an interlibrary loan… basically, do anything you can to ensure that you read this comics landmark, short of stealing.


//TAGS | Friday Recommendation

Walt Richardson

Walt is a former editor for Multiversity Comics and current podcaster/ne'er-do-well. Follow him on Twitter @goodbyetoashoe... if you dare!

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