There will never be another creator in comics the equal of Jack "The King" Kirby. The influence of this small soft-spoken Brooklyn-born comic book artist resonates on almost any page of any modern comic you might care to peruse. Kirby is properly given kudos for his work with Joe Simon and Stan Lee, but for pure unadulterated Kirby the first stop is "The Fourth World". (As we've talked about all month.)
I can still remember seeing the debut issue of New Gods sitting in the top rung of a classic comic book spinner rack at the local drug store. The logo yelled across the old wooden floors, and the pronouncement that "Kirby is Here!" was all the coaxing I needed. I was a young "Marvelite", but I was just at the stage of expanding my horizons when I discovered "The Fourth World".
Included with the stories are numerous pages filled with ad art, promos, commissions, and capped by fold-out color images of Metron and Lightray, the images Kirby produced in anticipation of this project. Utterly fabulous. Some of the artwork is inked by the unfairly maligned Vince Colletta and the rest by the great Mike Royer, who adds an afterword to the volume.
I keep getting older, but Kirby's elegant and awesome creation only gets sweeter and richer with time.
IDW has also come out with Artist's Editions for Mister Miracle and the Forever People.
It is great to have both of the key stories "The Pact" from New Gods #7 and "Himon" from Mister Miracle #9. These were both mythic tales which revealed the secrets of the Fourth World.
Amazing! Even after all these years it's just amazing!
Rip Off
I loved Kirby when I was a kid in the '70s but I was completely unaware of the Fourth World or any of his DC output. I was a huge Marvel fan so it was only Kirby's work at Marvel that I knew about. But this month has been very interesting and informative so thanks very much for all your efforts!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure. It's always fun and enlightening to read the Fourth World books over again. There's so much depth to the storytelling, I'm always finding new angles I've missed.
DeleteThe fact that you enjoyed & was drawn into the Fourth World at a young age, even without understanding some of its deeper themes at the time, is a testament to Kirby's ability to create truly all-ages books. I mean that in the best sense of the phrase. There was plenty of dazzling action & imagery, the protagonists & antagonists were clear to see -- everything a young comics reader would want. That was the initial draw for me. Yet if anyone chose to dig deeper, there were the distinctly adult themes to explore. And as we grew older, the Fourth World grew with us.
ReplyDeleteI'm reminded of a classic TV series that Jack Kirby loved, The Prisoner. There too, viewers who simply wanted mystery & action, with protagonist & protagonists clearly defined, could get their fill. That part alone was thoroughly enjoyable & strong TV. But again, there were those deeper themes to explored for those who chose to delve into them, which provided us with a deeper experience of the series.
When I consider how many fans & professionals in the 1970s dismissed & derided Kirby's work as being too old-fashioned & only fit for children, I can only shake my head. The Fourth World remains relevant -- for instance, your mention of Glorious Godfrey in a previous post, or that powerfully disturbing image of Desaad leering over the unconscious Beautiful Dreamer -- all of that definitely adults material. But it's told in such a way that younger readers can get a full & exciting story even before they're ready to tackle the ideas of the story. That alone is tribute to Kirby's immense talent as a storyteller.
The folks who complain about Kirby in this time period focus too much on the surface features of the art when by this time Kirby had moved beyond that. He was into movement and brash presentations of speed and power. He had deconstructed the form not unlike Picasso or other great artists who create sometimes puzzling but still satisfying imagery.
DeleteI'm bound to say (because all this unadulterated adulation for a moderately entertaining (and awkwardly scripted) series of short-lived comics sits uneasy with me) that often we see what we want to see, and project into certain things a depth and profundity that is not there. I'm afraid I have to say that, in this instance, the King is naked. (But don't let me spoil the party.) I was talking with a famous comics scribe once, and he said that, instead of spelling things out, he preferred readers to interpret his stories in their own way. In doing so, he was able to reap the credit for meanings that he hadn't even considered. I think it likely that many of the themes that people saw in Kirby's work, weren't actually there (or were exaggerated) and had probably never even occurred to him. The Fourth World is laid against a superficial backdrop of 'myth', purely for the purpose of telling stories about good guys versus bad guys. That's comics, folks. These books do look good, RJ, but I won't be buying them. They're interesting, but I don't find them compelling.
ReplyDeleteOne last thing: to blame readers for not being smart enough to see how 'brilliant' the Fourth World was (because they were kids, or for whatever reason) is a little insulting. The failure of the series at the time was purely down to Jack's inability to convey precisely what he wanted to say, and to do so in an entertaining and readable manner. He simply was not as good a wordsmith as Stan was (nor was Steve) - and it showed in the finished product. When a storyteller can't weave a powerful enough 'spell' to enthral his readers (and readers who are more than willing to be enthralled), the fault is his, not theirs. Anyway, this is my last word on the Fourth World on your blog, RJ - promise. I won't rain on the parade again. (Though I reserve the right to do so on my own blog - and elsewhere.)
I disagree with you adamantly that Kirby's tapping of mythic themes was by chance. He was intentionally evoking those themes. The "Anti-Life Equation" is a core idea that permeates the stories and is all about the individual freedoms we aspire to. Darkseid's desire to enslave all of mankind and more was a hideous notion which Kirby was rejecting with all his might.
DeleteAnd I think you are much too harsh to the comics by saying the failure was all due to the lack of Kirby to connect. The financial ups and downs at DC in those years were inextricably linked to the success or failure of all their comics and many good comics fell by the wayside. The books didn't find an audience then, but thankfully have found one now.
Just two more days. And there's very little direct connection to the Fourth World in either. Hang in there, it's almost over. Thanks for taking the time to comment though.
DeleteNot so much by chance, but I'm not convinced that he was fully aware of all the different layers of interpretation that readers would later impose on the series. And nobody seemed to know what the anti-life equation was - even after he had explained it. That's a failure to communicate. Oops, I commented again, just can't help myself. Thanks for indulging me so grandly, RJ.
DeleteHe's quite clear about the Anti-Life Equation, it's me and others that didn't grok it. If it's a failure to communicate it's on my part as a careless reader. Consider yourself indulged yet again. Thanks amigo.
DeleteColletta put this art over the top. I wish that he had inked the entire run. Royer was good but nothing unique among inkers.
ReplyDeleteVince Colletta always made Kirby's work on Thor look fantastic to me, giving it a wistfulness that more bold inkers might have achieved. It seemed logical that he'd take on the New Gods since they are in essence a continuation of that saga. Royer on Kirby is excellent though, better than the later Berry or Thibodeaux.
DeleteI agree with Luke's comment in relation to myself at least, in that at 10 or 11 years old I didn't really get what the New God's was all about. I looked at Kirby's New God's heroes and villains and found them a tad drab compared to Batman etc. and just assumed these comics were aimed at older Kids and that I would "get" it when I was older. Instead I forgot all about the series only reading it now .
ReplyDeleteI was thirteen when I first encountered it and that might've been an ideal age. Lord knows it imprinted on me. Glad you're getting to it at last.
DeleteNo enemy here. Happy to see someone paid a little attention. Generally, I'd agree that later Kirby (post Fourth World) does operate more literally. Myth was central to the New Gods and only has echoes in some later works like Demon or OMAC.
ReplyDeleteOops, I repeated "Rip Jagger" instead of changing the name to "Kid." You probably guessed what I meant.
ReplyDeleteNo problemo. Enjoyed your essay muchly.
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