This one is a heavy lift...literally. The book does what it took four large books to do before and well over fifty comics to do before that, collect up the sprawling and truly awesome Fourth World saga by the "King of Comics", the great Jack Kirby. It's all here in one truly massive book which takes at least two hands to hoist.
I didn't get myself a copy because I wanted to take a look at it first and sadly I discovered what I feared, coated paper.
I'm not a fan especially of shiny paper, though it's virtues over time are undoubtedly valuable. It's heavy and its reflective qualities undermine pages meant originally to shimmer on cheap stock. The color saturation feels off to me. I don't mean to berate the makers here, this a worthy achievement and I hope welcomed by fans of the Fourth World far and wide. No work was more worthy of this one-stop treatment in all of comics. Certainly the enormous omnibus volumes are the way of comics these days and it makes perfect sense for Kirby's important DC world to get this treatment, but sadly the sum is lesser than the magnificent parts.
All that said, I don't completely rule out picking this one up eventually. Kirby's Fourth World has a special place in my heart and I crave it in all its forms. Darkseid might have the last laugh on me after all.
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Yeah, I preferred the paper used in the 4 volume Fourth World Omnibus editions. Don't know if I'll get this or not. I already have all the original issues as well as various reprints, so not much point really.
ReplyDeleteI have not yet popped for this volume, but the splendid notion of all of the original material in one single book, no matter how heavy, is pretty attractive. I hear Darkseid giggling at me already.
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I've opted for the trade versions instead of this collection. I am still very tempted to see everything between two covers, but I do want to be able to read it, not bench-press it. ;D
ReplyDeleteOne of these in both hands and you have a workout worthy of the illustrious Ben Grimm.
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