When Jack Kirby arrived at DC after leaving his last post as top creative genius at Marvel, he quickly delivered an avalanche of new characters and titles. Those books became known as the "The Fourth World" as the unintended result of an ad which used the phrase to describe the four titles New Gods, Mister Miracle, Forever People and the existing comic Kirby had taken over Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen. Generally it took a while before Kirby's new ideas began to percolate through the broader DC Universe. But one place in which those ideas and characters did begin to appear almost immediately and with some regularity was in another of the Superman Family titles, Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane.
Under the editorial guidance of E.Nelson Bridwell, Robert Kanigher assumed the writer's chair for the title and along with artist Werner Roth, most famous for his stint on Marvel's X-Men, and then-mainstay Jack Kirby inker Vince Colletta, Lois Lane became embroiled in several stories involving the wild denizens of the Fourth World.
The first of these tales was "The Dark Side of the Justice League!" which pitted the unsuspecting Lois against tiny clones of the JLofA produced at the Evil Factory, a foul genetics laboratory controlled by Darkseid agents Simyan and Mokkari introduced in the pages of Jimmy Olsen. Here are the first few pages of that ground-breaking adventure.
The next few issues of Lois Lane have little Fourth World influence, but issue #114 which focuses on Rose and The Thorn and their enemies The 100, does have the character Morgan Edge, the then new publisher of the Daily Planet who had been replaced by a clone and served Darkseid as a member of Inter-Gang.
In issue #115 though, the Fourth World influence is felt most strongly as Lois encounters new Kirby creation The Black Racer, who debuted in New Gods #3. This issue in fact was the Racer's second appearance overall. We get to see Willie Walker, the new Racer going about his new mission as messenger of death. Here are a few handsome sample pages.
The very next issue of Lois Lane has our heroine getting mixed up in some hijinks at Happy Land, the deadly amusement park created and managed by Darkseid henchman Desaad. Happy Land debuted in Forever People, but we get another solid look at its depravity in these pages. Darkseid himself even puts in an appearance. This is likely his first non-Kirby drawn appearance ever.
Issue #117 has little Fourth World influence, though again Morgan Edge remains as a character in the story.
It is in fact Morgan Edge's story which becomes the focus of issues #118 and #119 of Lois Lane, as we find out more about his replacement by a clone agent of Darkseid, and the real Morgan Edge escapes the Evil Factory and meets up with The Outsiders, a motley motorcycle gang introduced in Jimmy Olsen.
And that just about wraps up this offbeat unofficial fifth book in the Fourth World saga. Bridwell would soon be replaced as editor by Dorothy Woolfolk and Robert Kanigher would go on to write other DC books. Lois Lane would return to adventures of a slightly more mundane type. But for a time though, Lois like her colleague Jimmy Olsen found herself embroiled in a crazy new universe, a brand new type of danger, a new and perilous world, a Fourth World.
I do want to point out that most of the covers during this run were by Dick Giordano, and are simply outstanding.
On a final note, it would be outstanding if DC would reprint these Lois stories in a trade so that Fourth World fans all over could readily enjoy them.
Rip Off
According to Mark Evanier, the 'Fourth World' title didn't come about as a result of the four mags Jack was then working on. What exactly it did mean is anyone's guess, but I'd speculate it referred to the whole concept of the New Gods and the 'project'. (Other interpretations are available.)
ReplyDeleteI follow that, but I thought that ad was the source of the phrase.
DeleteWhich is understandable, and I may well have assumed the same back then. However, if I recall correctly, the term applies to the theme of the mags, not the number of titles in which it was explored.
DeleteLois certainly had an, er, interesting wardrobe back then.
ReplyDeleteStunning I'd say. Those boots and hot pants she sported on those covers are delish if offbeat. Lois as a hottie was something new in the DCU I think. Bob Oksner and Dick Giordano drew some lovely covers.
DeleteI think Lois was never more attractive than in this short era.
DeleteI'm quite surprised that I had 3 of the Lois Lane comics here (issues 114,117 and 118) and I just picked up a new copy of issue 114 last week ( haven't read it yet). I remember really enjoying the concept of the Rise and the Thorn DC were always great at doing these types of characters.
ReplyDeleteTo my knowledge Rose and Thorn have not been reprinted in a collection. DC has a bunch of these that could do well I think.
DeleteIf I knew how I would upload a fan made omnibus of theses Lois Lane stories together with the Jimmy Olsen that wrapped up the "Morgan Edge" story.
ReplyDeleteAppreciate the thought sir.
DeleteDon't know where I read it, but supposedly Kirby saw some documentary on the Hopi Indians, who have a metaphysical concept called "the Fourth World." Maybe Kirby appropriated the phrase because he wanted to suggest a "fourth world" being born from the three worlds he depicted-- that of mortals, that of the good gods, and that of the bad gods.
ReplyDeleteThat makes sense to me. I haven't come across that to my memory before. Thanks.
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