Jack Kirby is the most famous and revered artist and writer in comic history to work for both major publishing houses, Marvel and DC. His work is influential and will probably be talked about forever.
Perhaps his most famous creation is the New Gods — a cosmic pantheon including the likes of Darkseid, Highfather, Orion, Mister Miracle, and other denizens of the planets New Genesis and Apokolips. And one of the first and greatest interconnected epics encompassing New Gods and also Superman is “Fourth World,” published in the early 70s across four different titles.
Seeing Darkseid at war and heading to Earth to find the Anti-Life Equation, Fourth World played out in the pages of Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, Forever People, New Gods, and Mister Miracle. Running for a total of 59 issues, Fourth World lasted from 1971 to 1973.
Kirby’s stories and characters have been adapted and reprinted multiple times and Fourth World is no different (a four-volume Omnibus was published in 2006). Now DC is reissuing it in a new series of giant Absolute Editions with the first selection coming out in May of next year — or roughly ten months from now.
Below is the official solicitation from DC:
ABSOLUTE FOURTH WORLD BY JACK KIRBY VOL. 1 HC
Written by JACK KIRBY
Art by JACK KIRBY, VINCE COLLETTA and MIKE ROYER
New cover by RIAN HUGHES
For the first time, DC collects Jack Kirby’s legendary run of the Fourth World titles in oversized Absolute editions! 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 struggled for supremacy, and the world-conquering
Darkseid adventured across Earth for the deadly Anti-Life Equation. Collects SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN #133-145, FOREVER PEOPLE #1-6, NEW GODS #1-6, MISTER MIRACLE #1-6, plus extra features.
ON SALE 05.13.20
$150.00 US | 8.25” x 12.5” | 816 PAGES
FC | ISBN: 978-1-7795-00861
Absolute Fourth World is an epic for all time and one for every collection.