For its 80th issue, the Jack Kirby Collector magazine presents a double-sized 50th anniversary examination of Kirby’s magnum opus! Spanning the pages of four different comics starting in 1970 (New Gods, Forever People, Mister Miracle, and Jimmy Olsen), the sprawling “Epic for our times” was cut short mid-stream, leaving fans wondering how Jack would’ve resolved the confrontation between evil Darkseid of Apokolips, and his son Orion of New Genesis. This companion to that “Fourth World” series looks back at Jack Kirby’s own words, as well as those of assistants Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman, inker Mike Royer, and publisher Carmine Infantino, to determine how it came about, where it was going, and how Kirby would’ve ended it before it was prematurely cancelled by DC Comics! It also examines Kirby’s use of gods in Thor and other strips prior to the Fourth World, how they influenced his DC epic, and affected later series like The Eternals and Captain Victory. With an overview of hundreds of Kirby’s creations like Big Barda, Boom Tubes and Granny Goodness, and post-Kirby uses of his concepts, no Fourth World fan will want to miss it! Compiled, researched, and edited by John Morrow, with contributions by Jon B. Cooke.

Visual artist(s): Rodrigo Lorenzo, Caitlin Kittredge, Jesus Hervas, Jack Kirby