Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #242762 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 396 pages

Customer Reviews

CONTENTS
Content:

In addition to an introduction by the esteemed Grant Morrison and an afterward by Kirby associate and close friend, Mark Evanier, there are a few Kirby concept drawings.

The heart of the book however are the chronological reprints of the following:

Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133 (Oct 1970)
Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #134 (Dec 1970)
Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #135 (Jan 1971)
The Forever People #1 (Feb 1971)
The New Gods #1 (Feb 1971)
Mister Miracle #1 (Mar 1971)
Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #136 (Mar 1971)
The Forever People #2 (May 1971)
The New Gods #2 (May 1971)
Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #137 (May 1971)
Mister Miracle #2 (June 1971)
The Forever People #3 (July 1971)
Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #138 (July 1971)
The New Gods #3 (July 1971)
Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #139 (July 1971)
Mister Miracle #3 (Aug 1971)

A standout production!
Despite what other reviewers might think, the matt paper suits Kirby's work better than glossy stock. The thinking behind it is to give the book a retro feel, presenting the comics as close as possible to how they appeared originally. It's ideal for this style of comic book colouring too, as on glossy stock the colours would appear too bright. This is the kind of paper these comics were designed for.

The stories themselves are pure Kirby unleashed! Unlike many of today's slow-paced "decompressed" comics, these stories use the superhero comics medium properly and every page crackles with energy and life. Never mind the sometimes corny dialogue or occasionally goofy characters; that's what great superhero comics are all about! And none come greater than the work of Jack "King" Kirby!

A good bargain for a 400 page book. Roll on the next three volumes!

Perfect Paper!
I cannot believe that there are people who criticise this book based on the paper. On the contrary: It is abolutely perfect. Instead, I HATE, with a passion, the glossy paper used for example in the Marvel Masterworks series. It is totally fake, and spoils the effect. These classic comics were not made for glossy paper. Suffice it to say that I would not have bought this, if it had glossy paper.

In fact, the paper here could not be better. Not glossy, not too white, but good quality, so that lines are clear and colours come out fine.

Enough about the paper: The content itself is great too, and well put together. I really like the idea of reprinting each of the issues featuring Fourth World characters in the order they were published. Jack Kirby, it goes without saying, was a master, so it's well worth reading -- and, especially, looking at. That's not to say that the storytelling is without flaws -- while Kirby is clearly full of ideas, he lacks the structure that Stan Lee brought to their earlier collaboration (to use a music analogy, this is like Syd Barrett's solo albums. Worth buying (if you're into his stuff), great in their own way, inventive, but just not as good as when he was with Pink Floyd). Some of the ideas, are a little misguided (e.g. The Black Racer, an obvious copy of the Silver Surfer, except that a guy racing through space on a surf board may be silly, but is also cool. Whereas a guy in space on skis is just ... well ... silly. However, 25 years on, 'silly' becomes fun again...).

The Fourth World does not hold a candle to Stan & Jack's Fantastic Four run. But that's comparing with, arguably, the best that the super-hero genre produced, and the Fourth World is still better than 95% of the rest.

All in all, as good as a reprint collection can be!