CAPTAIN AMERICA OMNIBUS VOLUME 4 OVERVIEW | THE RETURN OF JACK "THE KING" KIRBY 

All those things you mention: “reading like a pocket universe, Kirby writing and editing by himself, zero continuity “…. Are actually the things that made this run unique and important.

Another way Kirby was ahead of his time…coming into a book and ignoring the previous continuity. People wouldn’t bat an eye today if he came in like that.

I loved this omni (previous Cap by Kirby omni), but I really like Kirby going all out with the storytelling that he wanted. The letter pages really do put a lot of what goes on in fandom today into some context.

A lot of people had a real problem with Kirby returning to Marvel after having left a mere handful of years before. Suddenly his style was deemed to be "dated" and the fact that he was now scripting and self-editing didn't help. Unlike Stan, he had no flair for dialogue and captions, not helped by the way comics were lettered back then, with certain words in bold for dramatic emphasis. Readers picked up on the wrong words being emphasised, giving the sentences a weird cadence. If they had been lettered as they are today, without the practice, his scripts may not have seemed so strange. But the most important thing about him was the ideas his mind was brimming with constantly. And the love he gave to each page. Since he'd been away, many writers had come along who had introduced a lot of introspection and soul searching into superhero comics (including Cap's pre-Kirby return identity crisis and the Black Panther's wordy philosophising) and he was having none of it! They were men of action and drama, as far as he was concerned, comic books to entertain, not texts on psychology! He may have had a point. With so many people who had previously praised his massive contribution to the medium since it began now turned against him it's no wonder he decided to leave the mainstream field! I bought every one of the comics reprinted in this omnibus. Because they were different from everything else available at the time. And I loved his artwork. RIP The King

I appreciate you actually going through the extras page by page and not skipping any. Great overview👌

I do already have the recent 'Jack Kirby' volume from a few years back, so I'll let others jump in on this volume. It would be cool to have a more consistent spine text, but then they are already all over the place.

the mad bomb is such a great storyline i love the issue when they go against the handglider guy the art in that man . and i love the wacky rollerball issues oh i want mark grunwald era in full we are getting volume one then give us the rest

I just wait for Captain America omnibus vol 5 and 6 to complete the gap between Kirby and Gruenwald, and to collect Stern/Byrne and DeMatteis run in oversized format

As a big Kirby fanboy, I'll be keeping my last printing with the glorious title "Captain America by Jack Kirby Omnibus".

First! Thanks Omar, a definite buy for me!

Fingers crossed that Avengers by Byrne gets a release as Avengers: West Coast Volume 3. I will be picking this up and all ensuing volumes, but I'm curious as to how reprints will work, going forward. Will it be alternately reprints, or will Volume 4 become the de facto version?

I own the previous edition and won’t be buying this. I’ll just write a 4 on a post-it note for the spine. And yes, I would love a volume 5 and can’t wait until the Mike Zeck years are in Omni.

"Life is at best bitter sweet..." -TMNT

I agree just a new cover, but also the found original art which is not that much more. It looks kind of interesting that there are a few more pages. I saw the Essential Captain America did no have all of his issues in one volume and I read a review where someone did not like that, so that person is probably glad that they are. Last year I also bought the volume 1 and 3. I could not find volume 2 with as discount, so am waiting for the reprint. I have also bought Marvel Masterworks before I knew it was also in Omnibus and Epic Collection. I also have Epic collection but bought Omnibus for the letters pages. Thank you for both of the books.

I have the 2021 reprint, so I can wait for the Vol.2 later this year. Kirby coming back must have been a treat for artists like Keith Giffen, whose Defenders art was so similar to Kirby's art on The New Gods at DC.

Agree about the spines. I also got the Kirby branded version last year and inconsistency is annoying but that ship really sailed a long time ago. Have to say git this for completion sake - didn’t enjoy it when it came out originally and not sure it’s improved with age. Sorry to the King

Mad Bomb 💣!!

One Cap run I would really like is J. M. DeMatteis & Mike Zeck's!

yo omar are there anymore reading order like the avengers or black panther or venom or carnage or deadshot or shadowman or teen titans or titans or I make more reading order

Thank you.. I've been waiting for Cap and Falcon vol 4 for some time and to find out , that I already own a version of that book , took a load off of my wallet , I meant my mind. Thanks for going through and pointing out the differences. I'm sticking to what I have and am waiting for Vol 2 reprint.

...Wait..this is double dipping of the Mad Bomb omni??...#193-214! I thought this was a brand new unreleased omni. Its basically a new cover and thats it

Super great review Omar.

THIS IS A MUST BUY. Should have used the Alamo II Cover

Kirby was for SURE the King!

Nice Overview of the New printing for the Captain America by Jack Kirby Omnibus. Tempting, but I prefer to collect and read the Epic Collections because Omnibuses are so expensive now a-days.

Why is Marvel letting IMAK print the books that suffer the most from the bad paper stock? Should have Donnely or Mega Print do the job properly

I hate to say this about Kirby, but I just did not enjoy this. It felt like it should have came out in the early 60’s. There is almost no supporting cast, and it really has no importance to the Marvel universe. This opinion may not be the right opinion, but it is my opinion and I’d love to hear yours.

Hey what’s up. Iv collected every hulk omnibus and paper backs. I’m wanna start buying the key omnibus but don’t know the order in which I should put them in between the hulk omnibus and Paper back. Btw I so got into horror comics and omnibus because of you

The Golden Age Marvel is canon?

Omar, is it possible to get an actual answer from Marvel on why they've decided to go with these tiny fonts on the spines? They haven't really given a reason for it, or have they? Was it due to printing limitations? Was it purely an aesthetic decision? They look really horrible 😢