Absolute Fourth World by Jack Kirby Vol. 2 Overview! 

FINALLY! Omar I have a confession. I made the mistake of watching a video on some other channel of an overview of this, I think they sell books. It was painful to watch. It was like two people discussing something that they don't know anything about. That will never happen again. Thank you for making videos brother, you are the man! That is all.

Jack Kirby was a genius. A once in a lifetime man. He wasn’t perfect but I agree with you, Omar. He deserves so much better. I owe a lot to him and Stan for Fantastic Four. My favorite superhero team. I will admit I never got into New Gods until Walter Simonson’s Orion. From there I saw just how ahead of his time Kirby was. He is as much as an innovator as Walt Disney and George Lucas was for Disney and Star Wars respectively.

Got my copy. I even paid full price for it! Kirby. Fourth World! And at long last, "The Road to Armagetto" complete as Kirby wrote and drew it! I've been reading and re-reading this comic since the 1970s. I wrote essays about it at university in the 1980s. People credit Alan Moore with making comics for grown ups, but Moore will credit Kirby. It was Kirby who said comics could produce a "Moby Dick" and the Fourth World is Kirby's attempt. Everything you've heard about this comic "corny dialogue" etc, comes from his detractors. This comic was born of Kirby's experience in WW2. It contains some of the most mature and shocking material ever published in comics. It contains the most soaring dialogue you'll ever read and one of comics' greatest acts of heroism. Darkseid is the most complex villain you'll ever read, a true philosopher tyrant. The relationship between the Forever People and Infinity Man demands you think beyond 4 color comics. Orion, Lightray, Metron, Highfather, are multi-dimensional characters of the highest order. If this work has a failing it's that it demands you raise your game. If you approach the Fourth World the same way you approach Teen Titans then you're not going to get anything out of it. If you think of Kirby as paving the way for Alan Moore, then maybe you'll have a chance of appreciating this on another level. I'm currently re-reading the Absolute one issue a day and finding new resonances with current events as new Darkseids appear with their own versions of the anti-life equation 2.0 to enslave humanity. Kirby warned us then. Kirby is warning us now. This book is a snapshot of history and a deep probing of the human heart, weak and strong. As such it is also a book of prophecy.

I could've sworn you did an overview of volume 1 too! I had sold my copies of the original four-volume Omnibus set and wasn't really thinking of buying the material again, but when I saw the beautiful design of volume 1, I bought it. I have both volumes and they are really amazing books. The only thing I'd change is the spine of vol. 1 saying "Jack" so it'd match better with the "Kirby" on volume 2. But these are must-haves! Oh, and Tom Sciolis Kirby biography is a wonderful book too! Highly recommended to anyone interested in Kirbys life and career.

Mine comes in tomorrow and I can’t wait 😭😭😭😭😭!!

This! This is how you reprint something you love, presented in all its glory

I've never read any Kirby.. But I have both Absolutes because I just have to have them they are beautiful.

Easily the best looking absolutes out there

Great overview! Respect to The King! *Not the biggest Absolute, though - just checked, Absolute Planetary is 880 pages

Yay ! Still waiting for my pre-ordered Vol 2 to arrive 😊 Doing an edit here: I also have Vol 1, it was a restocking, so maybe a reprint. And no, I've not read it before.

ive been reading vol 1 the past week and it's so good

I'm glad you finally made the upgrade, because to me, Kirby's artwork was made for this format. I'm so glad to have both volumes myself, as a big fan of the King. Also, you mentioned how heartbroken Kirby must've been when people bashed him in the Captain America letter pages. You didn't mention that it must've especially hurt because he freaking *created* Cap back in the 1940s!

Beautiful Books. I'm so happy I decided to upgrade to this.

This book is already my book of the year. Being old skool Kirby and Lee were my heroes as a kid. Kirby more or less invented dynamic comic book visual story telling (He actually needed a writer/editor to smooth out his dialog and exposition). Having said that his ideas, his scope and his continual experimentation kept him ahead of the game. When you watch MCU movies, look at Hela in Thor, that pronged Helmet, pure Kirby, first drawn in the comics, the Face of Ego the living planet in the Guardians movie, again pure Kirby from the pages of Thor. The Celestials in the Eternals, again Kirby. As far as I am concerned Kirby will always be the King!

Darn, you just compelled me to get the absolutes, I had the Omnibus, Kirby was a genious no doubt in that, great going Omar

And after the cancelation of the book, the editor discovered an error in the sales number. Then a new New God's series was made without Kirby, but in the 80's he had an opportunity to finish his work with a graphic novel - but in the 80's Kirby had some health issues (vision problems). Comics will break your heart - Jack Kirby.

One of your best overviews up to date Omar. You are still the greatest. I agree on all you said of King Kirby. What he endured by wretched editors and ungrateful readers is heartbreaking. ☹

Nice. I knew you’d go out and get those, doing the good old double dipping. Awesome. Haha.

Those absolutes are GORGEOUS. I'll be honest, I don't like Fourth World. But I kinda want to get these because I love all of Kirby's other stuff and these look so freaking nice.

Ordered mine like weeks ago and its still in the mail.. cones Monday.

Great review Uncanny Omar! It is really sad what happened to Kirby. Not only was he responsible for Marvel's Silver Age (with Stan Lee) but as you know in addition to FF, Thor, and X-Men, he drew the cover for Amazing Fantasy 15 and was integral in the creation of Captain America during the Golden Age. Unfortunately, the readership was right - his art takes time getting used to (both yourself and I have said that) as his characters appear a bit stiff and blocky so when he returned to Captain America the medium had moved on and fan reaction to the blocky art was not kind. Both 4th World and Eternals and Kamandi and Demon and Omac had fantastic ideas behind them but the execution (at least for Fourth World and Eternals) left a bit to be desired - this is why he needed Stan Lee - they needed each other. When Axl Rose tried to continue Guns n' Roses without Slash... well you get the idea. Some collaborations (eg., Jagger & Richards in the Stones) are essential. In any event, Marvel mistreated Kirby during the 70s and 80s by not giving him access to his original art b/c it was made under "work for hire" and sadly once the 80s were underway Kirby was out in the boondocks writing and drawing Captain Victory for an obscure publisher (I forget which one it was). And meanwhile here we are in the 21st Century and the King is long gone and Marvel and DC are capitalizing on his creations (Marvel Cinematic Universe) and his name (the large KIRBY logos on the DC omnibuses)...

Nice looking, but the four volume set is on the correct paper stock and retains the original colors, which I strongly prefer. I realize not everyone wants the stories to look exactly like the published books, but it is worth noting.

7:35 He didn't know. Also, Kirby was so busy creating new stuff that he rarely looked at stuff after it was printed.

I have never read any old Fourth World stories... the only time I read about them was when Superman is taken to Apokolyps by Darkseid. Superman by John Byrne. I have the huge Omnibus reprint version, that will be more than enough. Now a little bigger size here doesn't make much difference to pay this much of a high price for it.

I never understood the knock against Kirby's writing or his dialogue! I always had the view that who knows what these aliens talk like so I never judged his work like that! I was absolutely thrilled by Kirby's brilliance right from the start back in the 70s! I was never one of those people who didn't get it, no brag just fact! He's the ABSOLUTE MASTER AND KING OF COMICS, even now there's no one that can touch him for RAW POWER on the comics page!

I've been thinking about reading this, I have yet to experience anything Jack Kirby related and I think this would be a good start.

long life to the KING!!

Very good

John Byrne's The Fourth World is what comes after Jack Kirby.

Omar! O Uncanny One! It has now been proven through old market figures that Kirby WAS selling at DC, but it was purposefully made to look as if the New Gods books were under performing. Kirby's enemies were legion. The price hike had nothing to do with Kirby. It was a shot at Marvel offering comics twice the size of the competition. Marvel panicked and upped their price from 15 to 25 cents as well (and page count to 48). Spider-man #102, Conan #10-11, were all 25 cent Marvels I bought. Then everyone came quickly down to 20 cents.

KING KIRBY .... 'NUFF SAID !

UM ACTUALLY haha. Never read this but meaning to. It's crazy to see this as a $300 book set even though they didn't let him finish it.

Sorry for the late comment. I was previously happy with the Omnibus, but now I'm pondering getting the two Absolutes. One small correction. Marvel and DC both switched to the 25 cent format. Marvel had mostly all new material (e.g., this was during the Thomas - Adams Kree-Skrull war, and there was one issue with 50% more Adams art). DC had the same amount of new pages, but filled the extra page count with reprints. The Kirby books had reprints of 40's Simon and Kirby stories. Anyway, after a month or so, Marvel switched back to regular sized comics, priced at twenty cents. DC held on the the quarter, annual format for several months. As you pointed out, this rope-a-dope boosted Marvel over DC. HOWEVER, the Kirby books were underperforming prior to all of this. There are many theories as to why this happened, but I think the books were not that well written, especially for younger readers. The descriptions and dialogue were ponderous, compared to Thomas, O'Neill, and Lee. Many wonderful ideas, though!

I hope they make an Absolute Kamandi and Absolute bronze age Kirby

Kirby would say fu**** you because he wouldn't receive a dime or credit for that

So beautiful. 😍

Love the cover

Neat stuff! DC stepping up in the publishing world??? What’s HAPPENING!

Waiting on this to arrive. One little thing that has bugged me is in both the huge fourth world Omni and the first volume of this set the issue number (and a tiny bit more) is completely missing from below the comics code box on Jimmy Olsen 141. It's such a weird little thing but how would that have happened? And it got through twice! It will be interesting to see if it's missing yet again on the upcoming trade paperback box of this material too.

So are The New Gods (1971) 1-11, and The New Gods (1984) 1-6 both included in this collection?

Old School.

I'm not sure Kirby ever even saw the letters pages as I have heard he didn't really look at the finished product too much. Still a shame how he was treated.

By the way it wasn’t 4 times a month… each of those titles was coming out every six weeks. Still a lot of work, but not quite 4 times a month

- Have you read the Fourth World?? It's one of the greatest comic book from the silver age - Really?? what's it about?? - Well, it starts with some Jimmy Olsen issues, you have to read it a few time to really "get it", it got kinda cancel along the way because people didn't like it that much, so it doesn’t have an ending per se and ... - ... - Hello? you there?

Will u be live tomorrow for marvel may solicitations?

For my money, Jack created mostly all of the characters, not 'co-created' i mean, the guy was sitting behind a table working by himself, coming up with the silver surfer on a whim, because he felt that, some one like Galactus, would have some one searching the universe, for planets to feed off of.. Lieber had no clue who the character was the first time he saw it, when placing the word balloons on the page. Hell, the time he said, that 'stan lee' created Captain America, says it all for me, that he's likes to steal credit more often than he's responsible for actually creating stuff.. Geniuns minds like Jack Kirby's and Steve Ditko are the ones that did the heavy lifting, people that have a golden tongue like Lieber those are the ones getting the credit, because he was the mouth piece for the company. he started to believe his own press. Heck, Jack created Thor, his thor, long before marvel was even a thing, how is that a co-creation with 'stan lee' when they didn't work together, but all of a sudden it is?? yeah, Jack Kirby created the mavel universe, he is the thing, he created his own avatar to be on those pages, next to the fact, that as a creator like him, you leave pieces of yourself in every line on the page. that's what he did.

Are these in the proper reading order?

Are these 2 absolutes standalone story? Or do I need to read somethin else before dabbing into fourth world?

Yo Omar, what type of boxes do you use to pack up and move your omni's? Just looking for that info for when I move. Dreading it and I have much less than you lol

Omar, the most important question, omnibus or absolute? It’s going to be my first time reading it.

Maybe I'll get the omni instead.

"Darkseid's face"??? I think you mean "Orion."

1:54 That is not Darkseid face right there, that is Orion face. 🤦🏻‍♂️

Does jack kirby get paid for these , ??? If so I NEED to purchase.

How much did you get it for?

No I'm good I quit doing shit like that in 3rd grade

I like the art, but the writing...

Why do you say KuhMondi? You are ruining Kuh-Mandy for me. I grew up on Kamandi. Stop ruining Kamandi. It was Command D. That is where he lived with his grandfather. Don't ask me why the boy got named Command D, or Kamandi, but that is all in the book. It may have been in a later non Jack Story though. The book went about 16 or 18 issues after Jack left to go back to Marvel. I have all of the original books. Trust me, It is Command D, or Kamandi. Do you read the comments? Also, I used to think Loki was Low-ky, or low keye. I was wrong apparently because it is pronounced Low-key. This sounds stupid to me. Lowky sounds more credible that Low-key. Oh well, I've never read a Thor comic in my entire life.