Four Reasons to Read The Fourth World by Jack Kirby, By Theodore Kemna

Four Reasons to Read The Fourth World by Jack Kirby
By Theodore Kemna

      I recently began reading the full collection of The Fourth World by Jack Kirby (the creator of Captain America, The Hulk, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, the comic version of Thor, and many others). This book, which chronologically collects Jack Kirby's full series Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, The Forever People, Mister Miracle, and New Gods all originally published alongside each other by DC Comics between 1970 and 1973, follows Kirby's grand "Fourth World" saga, a long intertwining story fully realizing a new mythology of gods and mortals equal to that of ancient myth all formed from the mind, in both writing and art, of Kirby himself. This is a monumental (in both idea and sheer page count, 1500+ pages) story spanning from the darkest corners of Earth to the farthest and brightest stretches of the cosmos and in this post I will focus on four reasons why I believe you should read it. 

The Collection's Cover

• A Seamlessly Executed Intertwining Story: As is apparent in the fact that this book has four separately printed books organized in chronological order, this book is complex, but it is still able to tell a cohesive story between all of its smaller arcs. Each book was structured in a way that they could be read and understood on their own, but still tell a larger story together, which is a testament to Kirby's storytelling capabilities. Even though I would often jump back and forth through four parallel stories, from Superman fighting a science-fiction mafia, to Mister Miracle escaping from the clutches of a racist southern Stan Lee-allegory, to Orion and the Forever People trying desperately to prevent the destruction of freedom itself by the hands of the "O'Deadly Darksied," I never felt lost and noticed the growing sides forming between the heroes and antagonists of the four books as well as cross-book development of characters, which leads to the second point.
  
  
• Development of Characters: This story juggles a lot of characters, most of which were created for the book itself and many of which have stuck around to this day, and somehow is still able to give time to all of them. From protagonists like Scott Free, aka the superhero-escape artist Mister Miracle, on his quest to free himself from the clutches of his childhood planet of Apokolips (a hellscape inspired by Kirby's own experiences fighting in Europe in World War II), to minor characters like Metron, a god of knowledge on an unending quest for knowledge who serves as a guide to others and protector of "The Source," the life force of all things, to even the greatest antagonist of all, Darkseid, the god of evil and ruler of Apokolips (and Kirby's metaphorical representation of Hitler-inspired Fascism), a dark entity in search of the Anti-Life Equation, a mathematical formula capable of forcing all life to bend under his iron will, no character is left undeveloped, even if they are only given a page or two in the 1500+ pages of book to explain who they are.
  
  
  

  Darkseid
  
• Art: As I stated in the introduction, the entire book is painstakingly illustrated by Kirby as well, who's dynamic, vibrant, and unique artistic style brought to life much of what is now seen in large studio blockbusters like Thor: Ragnorok and Guardians of the Galaxy, and never is it better exemplified than in this book. No page or panel is not done with the hardest of effort and it shows, from intricate linework to experimental inclusion of real-life photographs in the art, Kirby draws his heart out in this book and for that alone it is a beautiful book to read.
  

  
  Kirby's Art in Quentin Tarantino's "Resevior Dogs"
  
  
• Legacy: If nothing else in this list convinces you to read this, perhaps this last note might, the Fourth World saga has a vast legacy in the works of those who have read it, from Jim Starlin, a Marvel writer a few years after these book's publications who was told by his editor to "rip off" Darksied, one of the most iconic creations of these stories, and created Thanos, the antagonist of the greater arc of recent MCU films, to Quentin Tarantino and Stephen King, who grew up reading much of Kirby's work and integrated aspects of him into either the visual aspects or literary aspects of their movies and books. Elements of the Fourth World saga can be found in much of modern-day mainstream entertainment, both in and out of the world of comic books, and purely to see why, I urge you to check it out. Thank you for reading.