Tag: Jack Kirby

#730 Kirby’s Fourth World: “Forever People” and “New Gods” end

New Gods

Jack Kirby‘s big plans for his four Fourth World books were cut short when DC abruptly cancelled all but one of them. The Forever People and New Gods both ended with their 11th issues, dated April 1972. Along the way, the Forever People had an unplanned meetup with Deadman, and the New Gods got all their fighting in while they could, and still left us hanging at the end. Tim and Emmet discuss The Forever People 9-11 and New Gods 7-11.

Kirby’s Jewishness on display in “Fourth World” (Forward.com)

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#728 Kirby’s Fourth World: “Mister Miracle” #1-#6

Mister Miracle

Our journey through Jack Kirby’s “Fourth World” books now takes us to the first six issues of Mister Miracle, a change of pace from the other three books, giving us a more straightforward narrative. How will Tim and Emmet react to it?

Kirby’s Jewishness on display in “Fourth World” (Forward.com)

Jack & Roz Kirby

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#727 Kirby’s Fourth World: “New Gods” #1-#6

Black Rider

While the Forever People are (mistakenly, in our view) seen by many as “cheesy,” Jack Kirby’s New Gods has been a relatively well-regarded member of the Fourth World stable — if only for its focus on Darkseid and similarities to Star Wars. This time, Tim and Emmet dig into the first six issues, laden with more symbolism (or attempts at it) than you can shake a ski pole at, great art, interesting ideas, and really clunky dialogue.

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#726 Kirby’s Fourth World: “The Forever People” #2-#8

After reading Jack Kirby‘s wacky Jimmy Olsen run, Tim and Emmet weren’t sure what to expect from the first six issues of his Forever People series. What we found was, yes, ideas and concepts by the bushel, but also some insightful social commentary that has us wondering: Why isn’t this book more highly regarded? We consider why it isn’t and explain why it should be.

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#722 Kirby’s Fourth World: “Jimmy Olsen” pt 2

Transylvane

The second half of Jack Kirby‘s run on Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen continues to throw out idea after mind-blowing idea. These comics are crazy, and somewhat exhausting. But how do they stand up as stories? Tim and Emmet continue their walk through the Fourth World with visits to Transylvane, Scotland, and a volcano!

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#721 Kirby’s Fourth World: “Jimmy Olsen” pt 1


By the end of the 1960s, Jack Kirby had had enough of Marvel. He felt that the company had not treated him well enough for him to justify introducing the new characters and concepts he’d been toying with. When he got the chance to try out the concepts at DC Comics instead, he jumped at the chance.

Thus, we have the Fourth World saga. After reviewing the Tom Scioli bio of Kirby, Tim and Emmet decided to read the Fourth World for the first time. So this episode, we begin with the early issues of Kirby’s run on Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen: issues 133-139 and 141. The issues show us how Kirby was digesting what was going on around him in the late “hippie” era. But wait a minute — what’s Don Rickles doing here???

Mark Evanier on the Rickles appearance

Vulture.com article on Fourth World, by Abraham Riesman

The reading order we’re following

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#711 Tom Scioli’s “Kirby”

Kirby-Scioli

Tom Scioli’s Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics is a bio in comics form and written in the first person, from Kirby’s perspective. Why did Scioli handle it that way, and does it work? Why does Kirby look like a Tezuka character surrounded by normal humans? Was the tension between Lee and Kirby a case of Stan messing up Jack’s story, or modifying it to better connect with the reader? Tim and Emmet discuss those questions, some of the many revelations this book brought us, and more.

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#612 RIP Stan Lee

Stan Lee

Stan Lee, Marvel Comics writer, art director, publisher, promoter, and icon, died November 12 at age 95. While he is loved by many, and undoubtedly had a hand in some of the greatest stories of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and more, he was also known to aggravate disputes over story credit and art ownership with the likes of Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. In this episode, Tim, Kumar, and Tom Spurgeon wrestle with the legacy of Stan the Man.

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#565 “Mister Miracle” and comics journalism hype

Mister Miracle

DC recently launched a new Mister Miracle series, by Tom King and Mitch Gerads. Well and good, thought Emmet, but then he saw a certain CBR headline that set him off. “King and Gerads have redefined comics”? Hyperbolic much?

So Emmet recruited Kumar to review both Mister Miracle #1 and the hype surrounding it. Is the use of suicide in the story meaningful? Hackneyed? How accessible is this comic to readers who don’t know the character? And, why does everything in comics have to be super-hyped nowadays?

Donate to the Ed Siemienkowicz Memorial Scholarship (Choose it from the pulldown menu)

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#455 Streetwise

Streetwise

When Kumar was in Toronto in May and met up with Koom, one topic that came up was a 2000 anthology book called Streetwise, featuring autobiographical stories by a number of well-known comics artists (including Jack Kirby, Sergio Aragones, Paul Chadwick, Joe Kubert, John Severin & Roy Thomas, Walter Simonson, Rick Veitch, and Barry Windsor-Smith). This week, with Kumar back in Australia, they chat via Skype/phone about an overlooked book that’s worth a look.

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