Fourth World (comics)
| "Fourth World" thematic stories | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Created by | Jack Kirby | ||
| Publication information | |||
| Publisher | DC Comics | ||
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| Formats | Multiple, thematically linked | ||
| Genre | |||
| Publication date | 1970 – 1973 | ||
| Number of issues | 59 | ||
| Main character(s) |
Apokolips New Genesis |
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| Creative team | |||
| Writer(s) | Jack Kirby | ||
| Artist(s) | Jack Kirby | ||
| Creator(s) | Jack Kirby | ||
| Reprints | |||
| Collected editions | |||
| Omnibus Volume 1 | ISBN | ||
| Omnibus Volume 2 | ISBN | ||
| Omnibus Volume 3 | ISBN | ||
| Omnibus Volume 4 | ISBN | ||
"Fourth World" is a storyline told through a metaseries of interconnecting comic book titles written and drawn by Jack Kirby, and published by DC Comics from 1970 to 1973. Although they were not marketed under this title until the August–September 1971 issues of New Gods and Forever People, the term Fourth World or Jack Kirby's Fourth World has gained usage in the years since.
As the newsstand distribution system for comics began to break down, Jack Kirby foresaw a day when comics would need to find alternate, more legitimate venues for sale. Toward this end, Kirby envisioned a finite series that would be serialized and collected in one tome after the series had concluded. He began the "Fourth World" in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #133 (Oct. 1970). DC Comics had planned to introduce the "Fourth World" titles in the November 1970, issue of their preview omnibus title, Showcase. Kirby reportedly objected to this, and Showcase was cancelled. This delayed the introduction of the "Fourth World" titles until the following year. The three original titles constituting the "Fourth World" were The Forever People,Mister Miracle, and The New Gods.
Unhappy with Marvel Comics at the time, as he had created or co-created a plethora of characters without having copyright or creative custody of them, he turned to rival publisher DC Comics, with his sketches and designs for a new group of heroes and villains. As author Marc Flores, who writes under the pen name Ronin Ro, described:
The idea of the New Gods had come to Jack years earlier, when he was plotting 90 percent of the "Tales of Asgard" stories in Thor. He wanted to have two planets at war and end with Ragnarok, the battle that would kill Thor's lucrative pantheon. Instead, he tried the idea in his Inhumans stories. Now he was presenting it in its original context. Though he wouldn't ever say it publicly, the New Gods books started right after the gods in Thor killed one another. The first page of Orion of the New Gods showed the same scenes from Thor — a planet torn in half and armored gods holding swords and dying on a fiery battleground.
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Wikipedia