Old Gods & New: A Companion To Jack Kirby’s Fourth World by TwoMorrows Publishing

JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR EIGHTY PRESENTS:

OLD

& NEW A Companion to

JACK KIRBY’S by John Morrow with Jon B. Cooke

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OLD GODS & NEW by John Morrow

TwoMorrows Publishing

Old Gods & New A Companion To Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Researched, written, and edited by John Morrow with assistance from Richard Kolkman and Jon B. Cooke Designed by John Morrow, except for pages 75-87 designed by Jon B. Cooke Proofreading by John Morrow Numerous images and artifacts herein were unearthed through the efforts of Rand Hoppe and Tom Kraft at the Jack Kirby Museum Please support them online at www.kirbymuseum.org Softcover ISBN: 978-1-60549-098-4 Limited Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-60549-104-2 First Printing • April 2021 • Printed in China web: www.twomorrows.com • e-mail: twomorrow@aol.com

Editorial package © TwoMorrows Publishing, a division of TwoMorrows Inc. New Gods and related characters TM & © DC Comics. Eternals and related characters TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. All other characters are trademarks of their respective companies. All other Kirby artwork (including the 1960s Gods concept drawings) © Jack Kirby Estate unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter is © the respective authors quoted from.

Acknowledgments Thanks to: Neal Adams, Barry Alfonso, Jim Amash, Nikola Atchine, Jonathan Bacon, D. Bruce Berry, Marc Bigley, Jerry Boyd, Gary Brown, John Buscema, John Byrne, Nicholas Caputo, Dale Coe, Mark Collins, Gerry Conway, Jon B. Cooke, Nick Cuti, J.M. DeMatteis, Jean Depelley, Larry DiTillio, Shel Dorf, Paul Duncan, Yaniv Elancry, Mark Evanier, Dick Giordano, Glen Gold, Gary Groth, Bruce Hamilton, Paul Hock, Rand Hoppe, Carmine Infantino, Tony Isabella, Jenette Kahn, Gil Kane, George Khoury, Jack Kirby, Roz Kirby, Neal Kirby, Lisa Kirby, Jeremy Kirby, Richard Kolkman, Tom Kraft, Peter Kuper, Juanie Lane, Ronald Levitt Lanyi, Stan Lee, Paul Levitz, Jay Maeder, Andrew Mayer, Mike Mignola, Al Milgrom, John Millinder, Charles Murray, G.J. O’Hara, Leonard Pitts, Jr., Dave Proctor, John Romita Sr., Mike Royer, David Rubin, Steve Rude, David Schwartz, Ben Schwartz, Steve Sherman, Mark Sigal, Walter Simonson, Tim Skelly, J. Michael Straczynski, Greg Theakston, Mike Thibodeaux, Roy Thomas, Kenn Thomas, Maggie Thompson, Bruce Timm, Douglas Toole, James Van Hise, Ken Viola, Steve Whitaker, Kendall Whitehouse, Britt Wisenbaker, Marv Wolfman, Ray Wyman, Howard Zimmerman, and Tom Ziuko, who provided materials both directly and indirectly for this book, and inspiration from their own research and writings.

Copyrights Angry Charlie, Aquaman, Atlas, Batman, Beautiful Dreamer, Big Barda, Big Bear, Black Racer, Boom Tube, Brainiac, Bullets Barstow, Challengers of the Unknown, Clark Kent, Dan Turpin, Darkseid, Deadman, Demon, Desaad, Dubbilex, Erin the Armored Man, Esak, Fastbak, Female Furies, Flash, Forager, Forever People, Funky Flashman, Glorious Godfrey, Goody Rickels, Granny Goodness, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Guardian, Hairies, Hawkman, Highfather, Himon, Houseroy, Hunger Dogs, In The Days Of The Mob, Infinity Man, Inter-Gang, Jimmy Olsen, Joker, Justice League, Kalibak, Kamandi, Kanto, Lex Luthor, Lightray, Lois Lane, Magnar, Mantis, Mark Moonrider, Metron, Mister Miracle, Mokkari, Morgan Edge, Mother Box, New Gods, Newsboy Legion, Oberon, Orion, Outsiders, Penguin, Robin, San Diego FiveString Mob, Sandman, Sandy, Scott Free, Secret Society of Super-Villains, Serifan, Shazam, Shilo Norman, Simyan, Super Friends, Super Powers, Superman, Swamp Thing, Thaddeus Brown, The Evil Factory, The Head, The O’Ryan’s Mob, The Project, Tigra, Virman Vundabar, Vykin the Black, Wonder Woman, Yango TM & © DC Comics • Black Bolt, Captain America, Eternals, Fantastic Four, Galactus, Guardians of the Galaxy, Hercules, High Evolutionary, Hulk, Ikaris, Karnilla, Loki, Makkari, Odin, Prester John, Queen Ula, Sersi, Sgt. Muldoon, Silver Surfer, Surtur, Thena, Thor, Thundra, Ulik, Warriors Three, Watcher, Zuras TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. • Easy Rider TM & © Columbia Pictures • Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, Seven Dwarfs TM & © Walt Disney Productions • Lord of Light TM & © Roger Zelazny • Newfangles TM & © Maggie Thompson • Scooby Doo, Thundarr the Barbarian TM & © Hanna-Barbera • Scuba Duba TM & © Bruce Jay Friedman • Star Trek TM & © Paramount • Steranko’s World of Escapes TM & © James Steranko • The New People TM & © ABC Television • Vampirella TM & © Arowana Media Holdings All other characters and art are TM & © The Jack Kirby Estate, including, but not limited to: Argus Flane, Captain Glory, Captain Victory, Silver Star, Collages, Flower Child, Galactic Head, God and Moses illustrations, Gods concept drawings, Incan Visitation, Insectons, Jericho, Julius Caesar costume designs, Kirby Unleashed, Lightning Lady, Satan’s Six, The Ape, The Family, Tribes Trilogy, Wonder Warriors

Views expressed here are those of the respective contributors, and not necessarily those of TwoMorrows Publishing or the Jack Kirby Estate. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication, except for limited review use, may be reproduced in any manner without express permission. All quotes and image reproductions are © the respective owners, and are used here for journalistic commentary, criticism, and scholarly analysis. [title page] Some godly spectators depart in 1973 art for Pro! magazine. [above] Space Head, date unknown. [left] Argonauts vs. The Cyclops, mid-1970s.

ForeWorld

Leave No God Unturned.....................................................................4

The Color-Text Equation....................................................................6

CONTENTS

Introduction

Concept Drawings*

“Orion”...................................................................................7 “Mister Miracle”..................................................................8 “Lightray”..............................................................................9 “Enchantra”........................................................................10 “Space Guardian”.............................................................11 “Green Mantis”.................................................................12 “Black of New Genesis”..................................................13 “Captain Victory/Glory”..................................................14 “Bombast”..........................................................................15

“Black Pharaoh”................................................................16 “Robot Defender”.............................................................17 “Thor/Sigurd”....................................................................18 “Balduur”...........................................................................19 “Heimdall”.........................................................................20 “Honir”................................................................................21 “Metron”.............................................................................22 “Darkseid”..........................................................................23 “Faces of Evil”...................................................................24 Peter Max-inspired concepts.........................................24

* These names were in flux or non-existent at the time the drawings were created, but are listed here to help the identification process in this book.

Pre-Genesis From “Old” To “New” Gods (1940–1970)..............................................................................................................................25

To And From The Source The Four Corners Of The Fourth World...................................................................................................................................49 365 Days Of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World, By Jon B. Cooke....................................................................................................75

Buzzing In The Boom Tube First World (Spring 1970–January 1971)...............................................................................................................................88 Interlude One: Biblical Inspirations..........................................................................................................................................93 Second World (February 1971–July 1971)............................................................................................................................98 Interlude Two: The Gods Are No Laughing Matter............................................................................................................104 Third World (August 1971–February 1972).......................................................................................................................106 Interlude Three: The New Gods Were Our Gods................................................................................................................112 Fourth World (March 1972–July 1973)...............................................................................................................................114 Interlude Four: Soldier On The Battlefield..........................................................................................................................125 Fifth World (1974–1981 A.C.)...............................................................................................................................................128 Over In Conway’s Corner..........................................................................................................................................................135 Sixth World (1981–1986).......................................... 136 Post-Apokolips.............................................................. 152

AfterWorld TAARU!............................................................................ 155 Dedication To Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman, for tirelessly documenting Jack Kirby’s life and legacy and to Paul Levitz and Jenette Kahn, for finally making things right Collage used in Jimmy Olsen #138.

DUCTION

INTRO

“ The Moving Finger writes; and having writ, moves on…” Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, by Omar Khayyam

hat quote couldn’t be more apropos to Jack Kirby’s situation in 1970—and indeed, a visual interpretation of it appears in his own New Gods comic, as a flaming hand that writes on the Source Wall [above]. Khayyam was a Persian mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who lived in the 11th Century, and his poem espoused the idea of how time only moved forward, and that once something has occurred, it stayed in the past. Kirby, who’d spent the previous decade developing the Marvel Comics Universe, was ready to roll on a new “Epic for our times” that he didn’t feel he could produce at Marvel. His denouement in New Gods #1 that “An ancient era was passing in fiery holocaust!” meant more than he was leaving Thor and Odin (and Marvel Comics) behind. A seismic shift in his use of gods was taking place, and the behind-the-scenes events that got him there were seismic indeed. While this book will dig deep into that backstory, it goes much earlier than that—and much later. Jack Kirby was never content to just present the status quo in his comics. In his earliest work, he hit upon the idea of incorporating ancient mythology into stories, but with an updated twist. It reached its first apex at Marvel Comics in the 1960s, where Thor explored “old” gods living in today’s world, while sticking to their old god ways. Then came Galactus in Fantastic Four, who was an evolutionary step toward a different type of godly depiction. But despite even Jack’s multi-issue continued story arcs like the “Galactus Trilogy” or

Thor’s “Ragnarok” (which was threatened so often it became almost meaningless), you always knew those stories would end with the heroes surviving to fight another day, and the villains soon being up to their old mischief again. The long, sordid tale of Kirby’s discontent with Stan Lee and Marvel Comics during those 1960s years is the stuff of comic book legend (you can learn it in detail in my book Kirby & Lee: Stuf’ Said), but suffice it to say, Jack wasn’t happy there by 1969. When DC Comics’ Carmine Infantino came a’knockin’ to lure the top creator in the industry away, Kirby opened that door a crack— and eventually made the move, taking two young guys named Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman away from the Marvelmania Fan Club to be his assistants. Jack was at that time working from the West Coast and mailing in stories to his employer’s New York offices—and what he had planned for DC would require all the help Evanier and Sherman (and eventually, inker Mike Royer) could provide, to pull it off with minimal East Coast interference. As you’ll see herein, I couldn’t have pulled off this book without Mark and Steve’s own lifetimes of quotes and research, for which I and other Fourth World fans are eternally grateful. In 2014, the esteemed Mr. Evanier unknowingly sent me on a fascinating voyage into Kirby’s mind, by pointing out his tendency to put unrelated things together to make unique associations: “...the ‘Stone Men from Saturn’ are in the first Thor story... Jack was very intrigued by the Stone Men of Easter Island, and one of the places he read about them was in the book Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl.” Mark Evanier at the Jack Kirby Tribute Panel, held on Sunday, July 27, 2014 at Comic-Con International: San Diego

As you’ll discover from my research, since then I’ve found many other instances of those same kinds of connections happening. Jack worked fast and thought even faster, so it’s difficult to keep up at times. But with some occasional speculation on my part, I’m hopefully going to take you on a journey of discovery to ellucidate the sources of Kirby’s gods in this tome.

Kirby in his home studio and back yard, circa September 1971, with his 1960s Gods concept drawings.

LEAVE NO GOD UNTURNED by John Morrow As cryptic house ads in DC’s 1970 comics heralded “The Great Ultimately, all that inventiveness was to no avail. DC cancelled One Is Coming,” Kirby launched his new “Fourth World” (New Gods, the Fourth World series mid-stream, and their rationale will be disForever People, Mister Miracle, and Jimmy Olsen), where mysteries cussed later in this book. All Kirby knew was that his pride and joy, galore slowly unfolded to create the next step in guest-starring and which he’d poured his full visionary energy into, was being taken shared universes. This was a true epic, taking place not just across a away. In many ways, he never recovered creatively from it, and trio of issues of one comic, but throughout every issue of four interwonever again put quite the effort into his work as he had from 1970ven titles, all inextricably linked. If you missed one, you missed a lot. 1972—although as you’ll see, his mid-1970s work on Eternals and Its eventual climax was poised to end with the death of either the other projects still had a lot of inventiveness put into them. main hero (Orion) or the overarching vilLooking over his entire career, lain (Darkseid). As each new installment you’ll see he covered a broad range Kirby Kirby at at his his hit the newsstands, the puzzle started to of historical traditions in his comics: drawing drawing board, board, with with take shape, and an army of characters and African (Black Panther), Aztec/Mayan/ Steve Steve Sherman Sherman new ideas was introduced. Incan (Eternals), Buddhist (Captain [left], [left], Mark Mark Evanier Evanier (“Army” is not an overstatement. A few America’s Bicentennial Battles), Chinese [right], [right], and and Mike Mike Royer Royer [below], [below], circa circa years ago, my pal Jon B. Cooke curated a blog (The Horde), Egyptian (Rama-Tut), 1969, 1969, and and more more titled 365 Days of the Fourth World, which Greco-Roman recently. recently. spotlighted a different Kirby character or (Hercules and concept each day Zeus), Hindu for a year. Jon (Lord of Light), had no problem Japanese (Sonny filling all the Sumo), Native slots, with plenty American (Wyatt left over. That Wingfoot), and list is included of course, Norse/ here, and Jon’s Germanic (Thor). own extensive Somewhere research into in his output, Kirby’s history he probably has been invalueven snuck in able in my quest some reference to document the to Celtic, Slavic, or Sumerian faiths. events in this book—as has the work of Jack Myths, legends, and ancient religions Kirby Checklist curator Richard Kolkman, were ripe trees to snag fruit from, and and Rand Hoppe and Tom Kraft of the Jack he picked them clean. Kirby Museum.) Jack himself was Jewish, and while his faith may have informed his storyInstead of directly riffing on the old telling, he didn’t let it cloud his stories’ gods as he’d done in Thor, Kirby took it upon outcomes. I’ve got strongly held Christian beliefs of my own, himself to create an entire new pantheon of and I’m the same way with this book; my own faith isn’t relgods, who were in-keeping with the times in evant here—we’re talking about entertainment, not religion. which he was documenting it. Rather than I’m not here to preach to anyone, just to have fun exploring just have Apollo or Ra walk among mankind, Photo by Kendall Whitehouse. the mind and talent of the guy who gave so many people, so he gave us a new kind of sun god in Lightray. much enjoyment through his comics, despite his hardships. Zeus and Odin gave way to Highfather, with a complicated backThis book presents a tale of how commercial considerations story behind his peaceful demeanor. And whereas Ares was a plain and editorial interference can destroy the most personal of creative old God of War, Orion was a Dog of War, calling on Shakespeare, endeavors—and how even corrupted artistic visions can have lasting European customs, and daddy issues to shape him into a whole new value and impact. Jack envisioned his Fourth World series ultimately type of battler. being collected into deluxe volumes, a permanent presentation Something else unprecedented was Kirby’s visual sense. Seeing that elevated the lowly comic book into the realm of literature. His the evolution of his style from his first “Mercury” strip in 1940, prescience is a vitally important point in all this, because as he preto his final Hunger Dogs graphic novel, should be a revelation for dicted, his New Gods saga (as well as Thor, Eternals, and most other Kirby neophytes. Technology became one of his “new” gods as well, Kirby work) has been collected and published just that way, multiple and no one created complex machines like Jack. Also, no one else times since he left comics in 1985. incorporated collage into their comics art the way Kirby did, and If you haven’t already read Kirby’s gods work, especially the for about a decade in the 1960s and ’70s, it became as much a part Fourth World, this book may not be for you. I’m assuming if you of his style as squiggles, Kirby Krackle, and his unique use of color. picked it up, you already have a familiarity with (and likely love for) Despite the printing limitations of the time requiring them to be those epic Kirby series, and want to delve deeper into them. rendered in black-&-white, those collages gave a distinctive look to So, consider this book a mythological shovel—let’s dig in! many a Kirby story, and you’ll see numerous examples of Jack’s John Morrow, February 2021 collage work here, finally shown in full-color. 5

THE COLOR-TEXT EQUATION

FORE

WORLD

here are a few things to note in fully understanding my methodology for this book. As with my previous book Kirby & Lee: Stuf’ Said, I felt its “oral history” approach would be better served if there was an obvious indicator of who was saying what among the principal players, without overwhelming it with “Jack Kirby said...” designations. So throughout, Kirby, Mark Evanier, Steve Sherman, Mike Royer, and Carmine Infantino (the five main commentators) receive their own unique font and text color, for easy identification: Kirby in MAGENTA, Evanier in BLUE, Sherman in PURPLE, Royer in GREEN, and Infantino in ORANGE. All other quoted WORD commentators are BALLOONS: announced with one of these. Rather than use traditional styling, I’ve listed footnotes immediately after each quote, so readers know if the comments were made at the time of the chronological narrative, or later. At right is a rough timeline of when Kirby was likely working on each issue of the Fourth World series, with color breaks showing the first four of the six different “worlds” of its evolution, as designated throughout this book. Finally, a key component to understanding Kirby’s Gods, is seeing his original concept drawings, done in the 1960s while he was still working at Marvel Comics. Those are shown on the next 18 pages.

Jack at home with his photocopier, acquired during the second “world” era above. He used it to copy his pencil art (as shown throughout this book) before inking.

TITLE: Kirby quits Marvel Forever People Jimmy Olsen Jimmy Olsen Jimmy Olsen New Gods Jimmy Olsen Mister Miracle Jimmy Olsen Forever People New Gods Mister Miracle Jimmy Olsen Forever People New Gods Jimmy Olsen Mister Miracle Forever People New Gods Jimmy Olsen Mister Miracle Jimmy Olsen Forever People New Gods Jimmy Olsen Mister Miracle Jimmy Olsen Forever People New Gods Jimmy Olsen Mister Miracle Jimmy Olsen Jimmy Olsen Forever People New Gods Mister Miracle Jimmy Olsen Forever People New Gods Demon Mister Miracle Forever People New Gods Kamandi Demon Mister Miracle Forever People New Gods Mister Miracle Kamandi Demon Forever People New Gods Mister Miracle Mister Miracle Mister Miracle Mister Miracle Mister Miracle Mister Miracle Mister Miracle Mister Miracle

ISSUE #:

ON-SALE:

1 133 134 135 1 136 1 137 2 2 2 138 3 3 139 3 4 (1st 25¢ issue) 4 (1st 25¢ issue) 141 (1st 25¢ issue) 4 (1st 25¢ issue) 142 5 5 143 5 144 6 6 (Glory Boat) 145 6 (Funky Flashman) 146 147 7 7 (The Pact) 7 148 (final issue) 8 (Billion $ Bates) 8 (Terrible Turpin) 1 8 9 (Deadman) 9 (Bug) 1 2 9 (Himon) 10 10 10 (MM To Be) 2 3 11 (final issue) 11 (final issue) 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 (final issue)

12/1970 08/1970 10/1970 11/1970 12/1970 01/1971 01/1971 02/1971 02/1971 02/1971 03/1971 04/1971 04/1971 04/1971 05/1971 05/1971 06/1971 06/1971 07/1971 07/1971 08/1971 08/1971 08/1971 09/1971 09/1971 10/1971 10/1971 10/1971 11/1971 11/1971 12/1971 01/1972 12/1971 12/1971 01/1972 02/1972 02/1972 02/1972 06/1972 03/1972 04/1972 04/1972 08/1972 08/1972 05/1972 06/1972 06/1972 07/1972 10/1972 09/1972 08/1972 08/1972 09/1972 11/1972 01/1973 03/1973 05/1973 07/1973 09/1973 11/1973

JACK DREW IT: March 1970 April-May 1970? June 1970? July 1970? July 1970? August 1970 August 1970 September 1970 September 1970 October 1970 October 1970 November 1970 November 1970 December 1970 December 1970 January 1971 January 1971 February 1971 February 1971 March 1971 March 1971 March 1971 April 1971 April 1971 April 1971 May 1971 May 1971 June 1971 June 1971 July 1971 July 1971 August 1971 August 1971 August 1971 September 1971 September 1971 September 1971 October 1971 October 1971 November 1971? November 1971 December 1971 December 1971 December 1971? January 1972? January 1972 February 1972 February 1972 March 1972 March 1972? March 1972? April 1972 April 1972 May 1972 July 1972 September 1972 November 1972 January 1973 March 1973 May 1973 July 1973

GENESIS

FROM “OLD” TO “NEW” GODS Earliest Myth Adventures

PRE-

(1940–1970)

“I believed in legends and I loved mythological tales. The character of Thor has his origins in these fairy tales. But I wanted to tell them my own way, as adventure comics. The writers of these tales wrote them their way. The tales had a medieval style, a medieval language. My characters capture this language, with understandable English. “I knew many and read lots of these books. My parents believed in demons, like every European migrant who believed in popular tales! The English, the people from Central Europe, they all sat by a fire and repeated these stories. They were telling how Count Draha abducted peasants and their daughters, driving them to his castle which they never escaped from. Perhaps the Count had only had them wash his stables or clean the parquet floor, but the people around the fire kept telling he forced them to do very strange things. That may be the origin of the Dracula myth. Characters, more or less historical, are turned into legends, even if they probably were people like you and I! “I tried to incorporate what I know. My father came from an aristocratic Austrian family and my mother was a peasant. And they told me popular tales, stories very real for these people. At that time, penicillin didn’t exist and people were dying from diseases easily cured by today’s treatments. There were some religious ceremonies where people danced and sang. I could see them with my own eyes. “The Nordic legends about Asgard will live forever, as will our own legends, transmitted by comics, at least the best ones. We are building our own legends right now. What is modern today will become archaic for people in the future, and, for them, our writers will describe the ‘primitive life’ we are currently experiencing.”

ong before the Fourth World was a gleam in Kirby’s eye, he got the first big hit of his comic book career in 1940, at what today is known as Marvel Comics. Martin Goodman was the founder and owner of the company, dating back to the late 1930s when it began as Timely Comics. Goodman built his business on copying whatever trends were popular, and exploiting them with as many copycat comics as he could produce. But when he found himself with an innovator like Jack Kirby on the payroll, he suddenly saw his ragtag company reach new heights of financial success, largely from the popularity of Kirby and partner Joe Simon’s creation Captain America, which took the wartime world by storm. Jack first dipped his toes into the concept of gods in comics at Timely. His earliest use of deities was depicting the Roman god Mercury in Timely’s Red Raven Comics #1 (August 1940), in a story that presented other Roman gods, Jack Kirby interviewed by Nikola Atchine in 1992, in Kirby’s booth at Comic-Con International: San Diego including Jupiter (Mercury’s father), Minerva, Vulcan, and Diana, and even mixed in Greek gods Aeolus, Apollo, and Pluto. Red Raven was immediately cancelled, so Kirby’s unused second story was recycled for a back-up feature in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941), renaming the main character Hurricane,

The Lead-Up To Leaving Marvel

and now christening him as the son of Thor. (In a holdover from the “Mercury” name, his human alter ego was initially dubbed “Mike Cury” before being christened “Harry Kane” after Kirby left the strip.) Captain America’s mask even featured Mercury’s wings above the ears, and that breakout character kept Kirby too busy to produce further back-up stories for Timely. But Simon and Kirby soon discovered that Goodman was cheating them out of promised profits from its success, and secretly cut a deal with DC Comics at the end of 1941—leaving Martin Goodman and his creative accounting practices behind, and Jack working for DC off-and-on for the next two decades. In 1942’s Adventure Comics #75 [above], Kirby depicted an early version of the Norse god Thor for DC Comics, albeit as a villain for his hero The Sandman. Much later at DC, Kirby introduced another Thor in 1957’s Tales of the Unexpected #16 [below]. But as the 1950s came to a close, Kirby’s relationship with a key editor at DC Comics soured. Jack Schiff had helped Kirby land a potentially lucrative syndicated newspaper strip about the space race, but had demanded more of a finder’s fee than Kirby felt was warranted, and the two ended up in court together, with Schiff winning the suit. Thus, Kirby was forced to return to Martin Goodman’s company as his only viable option for supporting his family. Becoming firmly rooted at Marvel Comics throughout the 1960s, he poured his heart and soul into building a Marvel Universe of characters there, assuming that if the company succeeded, he’d be commensurately rewarded.

One Marvel project that was tailor-made for Kirby was (yet another) Thor, which premiered in 1962’s Journey Into Mystery #83. With Jack’s past love for, and knowledge of, mythology, it was natural for what started as a typical super-hero comic, to evolve into a full-on incorporation of gods into the medium. “Well, my father was always very interested, he loved mythology, he loved studying religion and history, just knew all about it. His bookshelves were just loaded with that kind of stuff; as a kid I was always more into history than I was science, but we would have long discussions about it. I kind of got into it on a more practical basis, and I remember standing by his drawing board as he was doing the Thor character, and either Thor or one of the other characters had big horns coming out of the helmet. I said a real Viking wouldn’t have big horns coming out of his helmet, and we were laughing... my father kind of laughed and made some statement that, ‘Well, this isn’t Viking reality, it is a visual impact,’ so he gave me a little art lesson there.” NEAL KIRBY:

From Neal Kirby’s deposition, Marvel Worldwide, Inc. et al v. Kirby et al, June 30, 2010

[above] Circa 1966, as Joe Simon was making moves to claim the expiring copyright on Captain America, publisher Martin Goodman stiff-armed Kirby into siding with Marvel, and Jack created this alternate design for Captain America in case Simon was successful. As you can see, it didn’t reach the level of detail and care Kirby put into his Gods concept drawings of the same era. [left] Kirby gives us a little “Viking reality” with this circa 1969 illustration.

The industry had never seen the likes of his depictions of Asgard and its inhabitants, nor the storylines that took their inspiration from Norse myths. Soon, there was more in Thor taking place in Asgard and outer space than on Earth, and each new issue promised some brilliant mythological or sci-fi take by this master storyteller. By 1965, Kirby was digging deeper into Norse mythology for his “Tales of Asgard” back-up series in Journey Into Mystery/ Thor. In #119 (August 1965 cover date), the final panel proclaimed “Ragnarok Is Coming,” [above] and a letter from a reader in that issue’s letter column explained that Ragnarok was Asgard’s end in mythology, when most of the gods would perish. Journey Into Mystery #123’s Thor story, from late 1965, also broadly hinted at Ragnarok, and presented a vision of Valhalla, where in mythology, half of those who died in combat traveled upon their death. By early 1966, issue #127 (now simply titled Thor instead of Journey Into Mystery) presented the tale “The Meaning of Ragnarok.” That two-part speculative tale gave a preliminary look at what a “young new race of gods” [below] would be like, in the second half of the story,

[below] The Asgardian pantheon of Thor, from 1968’s Tales of Asgard #1, which reprinted Kirby’s early 1960s TOA back-up stories behind this new cover.

#128’s “Aftermath.” That would seem to be the point at which Kirby cemented the idea of some kind of a continuation of the “old” gods with a “new” mythology. It’s been speculated that he wanted to do just that at that point, but there’s no definite evidence he actually took steps to inquire if that were a possibility—and the idea of ending Thor, and starting a series about “new” gods, was a nonstarter anyway. Kirby knew Goodman wasn’t a risk-taker, and would never jettison an established, successful comic for a new, untried concept. Plus, after five years of constant idea generation with what he felt was inadequate compensation, Jack wasn’t interested in offering Goodman another new idea, without a much better financial deal than he was getting at the time. “Kirby was very unhappy at Marvel in the late Sixties. Put simply, he felt that he was contributing more to the scripts than Stan Lee was... but Stan was getting the writing fee and credit. Jack also felt that the company’s owner-publisher, Martin Goodman, had promised all sorts of bonuses and financial participation in the success of Marvel and was now pretending he hadn’t. There were other, lesser squabbles but in Jack’s mind, they all flowed one way or another from those two perceived ‘wrongs.’ “Beginning around 1967 and continuing thereafter, Jack was approached every few months by people who said to him, in essence, ‘I’m starting a new comic book company. Marvel is screwing you over and if 27

distributors and selling in bookstores. Or if they felt they had to sell comics via magazine distribution, do them in larger, more upscale formats and get the heck off the comic rack. It was sound advice, heeded by no one. But then, none of those who approached Kirby about starting a new company got past the talking stage.” Mark Evanier, Jack F.A.Q.s column, Jack Kirby Collector #47, Fall 2006

Kane himself was privy to Kirby’s frustrations with his situation at Marvel Comics in the 1960s. “It’s like Jack Kirby, with all that hostility and aggression in his work, was the most blithe person. When you dealt with him directly and he had any antagonism—as he did towards Stan Lee—it never came out in any discussion between them, but come lunchtime with a few friends, you’d think he was having a fit, he was so [above] Still in pencil, the origin of Loki from 1964’s “Tales of Asgard” story in Journey Into Mystery #112. angry. And yet he’d come into the office, Stan would say ‘Jack, would you change this?’ and he’d say ‘Sure.’ All of you’ll come work for me, I’ll treat you right.’ The Kirby response to such that frustration came out in the work which obviously made it richer…”. approaches was to say something like, ‘I might be interested... keep me posted.’ Privately, Jack did not believe any of these wanna-be publishers Gil Kane interviewed by Steve Whitaker, Dave Proctor, and Dale Coe at the 1986 UK Comic Art Convention would ever secure the necessary financing... and even if they did, they’d never get their wares distributed. Independent News (i.e., DC Comics) And rich it was. Despite his frustrations (or because of them), was the Godzilla of Magazine Distribution and was not about to let a Kirby dug even deeper, as when he created the godlike Ego the new player into their game. This is Kirby’s view I’m giving you here, but Living Planet in 1966 as a response to Lee’s vainglory. And while it was a not-uncommon belief at the time. exploring Asgard’s past in his Thor back-up stories, he began two “In Jack’s case, it was reinforced by the experiences of his friend continued story arcs in the front of his comics, that would solidify Gil Kane when Kane attempted to become a publisher. His Adventure his intent to incorporate gods into the grand scheme at Marvel. House Press managed to get one issue of His Name is Savage onto newsstands... and not even very many newsstands. Then—to hear Kane Devil In The Details tell it—pressures were brought that cost him his printer and his distriFirst was Journey Into bution. Over a tearful lunch, Kane told Kirby that he’d been sabotaged; Mystery/Thor #124-130, drawn that the ‘big boys’ had conspired to squeeze him out of business. I have from mid-1965 to early 1966. no idea how true this may have been. The point is that Gil believed Not content with focusing only it. And Jack believed it. Aspiring publishers came to him and talked on Norse mythology, Kirby about putting out a new line of comics so terrific it would drive DC and visited Grecian folklore, by Marvel off the newsracks and into the one-hour Dry Cleaning business. way of Rome. Each time, Kirby advised them to forget that as a goal. Conventional In Greek mythology, comic book distribution, he told them, was a rigged game. Worse than the divine hero Heracles was that, it was a rigged game that was on its way out. He urged them the child of Zeus. When he instead to look into publishing comics in book form, using book was adapted for Roman mythology, Stan his name changed Stan Lee Lee in in aa 1966 1966 publicity publicity photo. photo. to Hercules, and he was the son of Jupiter. When Kirby introduced Hercules in Journey into Mystery Annual #1 as a rival for Thor, he opted to merge the two pantheons into one, making Zeus his father, and a contemporary of Odin, albeit in a different plane of existence GIL KANE:

“...when I created Galactus, I was looking for a new type of super-villain. And there I was with all these super-heroes. All these super-heroes were teamed up against ordinary gangsters or mad scientists, and I felt that kind of thing just wasn’t evenly matched. I had to get a match for those super-heroes, and naturally the ordinary gangster didn’t fill the bill. Using a gun against a super-hero I felt was kind of unfair. I had to get a villain who’d get an atom bomb or he’d get a disintegrator of some kind. Gangsters can’t invent that sort of thing. So I created Galactus. And, of course, Galactus was an omnipresent thing. In fact, he was omnipotent from the first time I—he was a variation of God. I’d felt I’d come up against God, something completely omnipotent. Because the devil isn’t supposed to be omnipotent. He’s got a weak spot somewhere, see, and we’re supposed to be able to outwit him in some way. Well, you can’t outwit God. And I felt that way about Galactus. And here I discovered Galactus, and I said, like God, ‘How do I contend with him,’ see? So, in the first story, I backed away from it...

than Asgard. Hercules technically first appeared at Marvel Comics in Avengers #10 (November 1964), but not as the character we know from Thor. Even earlier, Jack produced a Timely Comics version for Daring Mystery Comics #3 [previous page, bottom right], though how a Greco-Roman god ended up in Norse Valhalla in that story is a mystery. But in 1965, when Thor accidentally stumbled upon a hidden entrance in Journey Into Mystery Annual #1, he discovered Hercules up on Mount Olympus, living the good life with the rest of the Greek deities. Thor ended up duking it out with Herc, before Zeus broke it up and sent Thor on his way. Then in Journey Into Mystery #124, Hercules was in the midst of an Olympian wrestling match with Atlas, when Zeus suddenly decided to send him down the mountain to Earth. Once there, he proceeded to put some moves on Thor’s sweetie Jane Foster, and the two came to blows. Odin decided to punish Thor by removing half his power in the middle of the fight, and Hercules thus was victorious. His pride got the best of him, however, when an offer to star in a movie resulted in Hercules signing away his freedom to Pluto, and having to take his place as Lord of the Netherworld. After Hercules was unsuccessful in getting Ares and Hermes to fight for him, Thor stepped up and risked it all to defend his newfound ally, and succeeded in freeing Zeus’ son from eternity in hell. If you dwelled too much on established mythology, it could get maddening, as Zeus was the Thunder God in Greek myths, whereas Thor was in Norse writings—and at Marvel Comics. Pluto here wasn’t Kirby’s first use of the Devil in comics. He was referenced as the villain back in Kirby’s 1940 Mercury story in Red Raven #1 [above], and Jack depicted the Devil in 1941’s pulp magazine Complete Detective Cases #1 [top]. Likewise, Surtur the fire giant cameoed in Thor in 1963, before almost instigating full-on Ragnarok in #157.

Jack Kirby interviewed at the Lucca Comic Art Festival in Lucca, Italy, Fall 1976

After an initial plotting session with Lee, Kirby drew Fantastic Four #48, adding the Silver Surfer to the story without Stan’s prior knowledge. “Jack and I had discussed a story dealing with Galactus... I don’t remember; Jack may have come up with the name Galactus, or I might’ve... The thing came back, and lo and behold, Jack had Galactus, and I loved it... as I’m looking through the drawings, I see this nut on a surfboard flying in the air. And I thought, ‘Jack, this time you’ve gone too far.’ And under his cigar, Jack said, ‘No, no, Stan. I figure anybody like Galactus, who’s that big and powerful and travels through space, needs a herald.’” STAN LEE:

Stan Lee at the 1975 San Diego Comic-Con

Looking Gods In The Eye Then came the “Galactus Trilogy” in Fantastic Four #48-50— the only time Kirby tried to inject a semblance of the actual Hebrew God (capital “G”) into his comics.

Kirby pencil art from Fantastic Four #49, the midpoint of the “Galactus Trilogy.”

“...with Galactus, when I felt that that was possibly my version of God, I thought, well, as long as I’m going to do that sort of thing, I’ll include the fallen angel. And I got the Silver Surfer out of the fallen angel of Galactus. And, of course, I couldn’t say ‘fallen angel’ in a biblical sense. I put him on a surfboard because surfing was popular then. It became popular in California, and I read the papers, and there were all these guys walking around with surfboards, and they were putting out specialty magazines on surfing, and it became extremely popular. So I felt that might be a source of sales among young people who liked to surf. So I created the Silver Surfer, and I gave him the role of fallen angel, and Galactus banished him to Earth, which God did to the devil. God banished the devil to Earth, or the devil was supposed to have fled before God to Earth and stayed there. And, of course, this happens to the Surfer in the style of the fallen angel. Although people don’t see him in that role, that was the original role that I intended for him, although he isn’t an evil character. But he has a power about him that’s typically biblical, just as Galactus does. Galactus eats entire worlds, he eats entire planets. It’s an omnipotent type of thing, which, you know, the more ordinary super-villain can’t engage in.”

causing additional tensions between them. Then, at the end of 1967, at Lee’s direction, John Buscema drew Silver Surfer #1. That would be a major sore spot for Kirby, as he had no advance notice a Surfer solo comic was being produced, and Jack had his own plans for the character that now couldn’t reach fruition. It must’ve been quite a betrayal to find he wasn’t chosen to work on his signature creation. In Lee’s new Surfer comic, the origin made a mockery of Jack’s original motivation—a character who didn’t value human life until a human showed him how to. Lee’s version had a very human Norrin Radd tragically lose his true love before becoming the Surfer—in hindsight, his reactions in Fantastic Four #48–50 made no sense. Instead of a fallen angel, this new version of the Surfer was portrayed as a messianic figure. That had to be galling to Kirby, and even more so since he had to jettison his own plans for the Surfer’s origin, which he had already begun setting up in Fantastic Four, and now had to abandon. Now that Lee had co-opted the Silver Surfer (a creation Kirby had added to the Fantastic Four comic all on his own, with no prior input from Stan Lee)—without Kirby’s involvement or prior knowledge of it—the die was cast. Unable to depict his own origin for his signature character—or that of Galactus, who was inextricably tied to the Surfer—Kirby thereafter bided his time and looked for greener pastures than Marvel could offer, to present themselves. He also made a conscious decision to keep all his other new ideas to himself. While it may have been the tipping point, Mark Evanier feels it was much more than that one specific incident that prompted Jack to start stockpiling characters and concepts in the mid-1960s; it was more a growing concern that things at Marvel weren’t shaping up the way he’d hoped, in spite of all the effort he put into making it so successful—nor did Jack actually discuss the idea of replacement gods for the Thor characters with Marvel in the 1960s, according to Evanier.

October-early November 1976: Jack Kirby interviewed at the Lucca Comic Art Festival in Lucca, Italy

Having creating the Surfer, Jack was rightfully attached to him. He had the character’s motivations in place in Fantastic Four #48– 50, and expected Stan to stay true to those—which Lee did in the “Galactus Trilogy.” But Kirby had grown increasingly disenchanted having Stan Lee as editor on his work. A January 9, 1966 New York Herald Tribune article [below] caused major friction with its portrayal of Lee as the creative mastermind behind all of Kirby’s comics, and Jack as a lowly grunt, just there to take orders and draw Lee’s flights of fancy. “Jack told me the details of that famous interview with Nat Freedland. Jack said that Stan basically put on a show. As Jack said, ‘Stanley was jumping on the desk, waving his arms like a crazy man. I just sat there on the couch and watched him. It was nutty. When it was over, I said a few words and went back to work. The article comes out and the guy writes what an amazing writer Stanley is. Who could work like that? By the time he was through jumping around, I had three pages done.’”

“It was during this time that Jack decided that he ought to have some concepts for new characters, if and when the time came that he needed them. And I should probably emphasize that he did not want to leave Marvel. Even when he finally departed in early 1970, it was only

Steve Sherman, via e-mail to John Morrow on February 25, 2015 space since

in been somewhere out For some time, Jack had been solely “The Silver Surfer has ng Earth,” begins Galactus from destroyi stop “I don FF the ed help he ’t plot directing the plots and direction of his bring him back?” Steve Spide Lee. “Why don’t we r-M D y. the st itko, the art an any m “Ummh,” says Kirb d, is in some comics, and many others he’d jumpstarted ories. o is re t, . has b Thing’s blind girlfrien I gu until sa Lee “Suppose Alicia, the adison les sta ess I’ll leav een doing comes to help her.” er -M Surf tra er ul Silv the g an rt e ot so for other artists, by Yorker, horsy kind of trouble. And up. popula to slip. Sin him alone native New rison. He’s got that g as he gets warmed a g urin r, c e is gest , e n and D e. ng 43 iu S itko pid so the starts paci Har -pitched voic Stan Lee, supplying rough layouts ke of Rex l gray hair, He has kind of a high so mu f the world thinks he ey nder“I see,” says Kirby. ngy lookali thinning but tastefu deep ’s ch . together and he misu Avenue, ra ivity and a es, start m over plot We were a the t the Thing sees them be in capt , morous ey “Bu rg ro li ay Surfer. And rd hu a and margin notes for n sd er u d k wa ur e Silv in in an s, the g g up h ague t with y, Th jaw I told figh Le da big y es a ts Iv Tu star d y he re So t is er him lo ev ou stands. own st of trouble. Doctor brightest-co mes from working e, cranking ories.” to tastic Four is in lots them to work from. The co rban terrac meanwhile, the Fan they need the Thing’s and suntan that Sunday on his subu n agai them ht d ly. Doom has caug g punches now. fallout from the Herald Saturday an e Marvel mags week around and throwin Lee arrives plet help.” Lee is lurching at his plot three com artists. He s in sort of says Kirby. ht,” “Rig But then Alicia Tribune article caused inserts the ESP sessio s the Silver Surfer. dialogue af in. Here he ns with th “The Thing finally beat ter the pict ake. This is what e is in actio ure layout made a terrible mist n at his we meeting wi he’s ize Kirby to insist on new real him es com mak ek hing else, that he th Jack “K ing” Kirby, ly Friday morning su es feared more than anyt a man wh m the Thing has always o created creator credits on each of his issues; instead ly clobber somebody.” many of th a veteran comic book mit real mine: The and trol con e visions of artist, would lose Ki your child baggy Robe ng is a middle-aged hood and Kirby nods. off by himself. man with of “Stan Lee, writer” and “Jack Kirby, artist,” rt Hall-ish baggy eyes enhearted. He wanders suit. He is and if you “The Thing is brok to the and a sucking a stood next ia or go back home Alic huge green to him on face him for th to med it became “A Lee/Kirby Production” or cigar the subway He’s too asha e assistant he’s failing for the foreman in you would doesn’t realize how He r. Fou ic sags back tast pe a Fan Lee girdle fact g him.” something similar—except Lee wasn’t conory. much the FF needs second time... How t. spen and limp , on his desk crumpled in. sistent in fulfilling Kirby’s wishes, so some of the chair he was y Kirby has leaped out mouth and his bagg his of out is r ciga credits reverted back to the old designations, “Great, great.” The enthusiasm. voice is young with eyes are aglow. His

high

because the situation had become so unbearable that he felt practically forced out. But it did not come as a surprise. By the end of ’68, it seemed all too plausible that he would have to go elsewhere and to protect himself, his family and their income, he felt he had to do something. So Jack did what he did best. He created new characters. He drew up a pile of what he called ‘presentation drawings’ that could serve as visual aids if and when the opportunity came to sell something somewhere. It was even possible—not probable but certainly possible in the Kirby imagination— that Marvel could be induced to change how they dealt with him. Perhaps if he told them, ‘I’ve got a batch of new characters but you’re not getting them unless I get a better contract,’ someone there would see the wisdom of offering him that better contract. “[These drawings] were all done around this time, though a few were signed years later and dated 1967. Since Jack hated to ink, he hired Don Heck to handle that. Heck tried to decline payment, feeling Kirby had done so much for him that he owed the man. Jack, who was scrupulous in his belief that professionals should be paid for their work, insisted on paying. I’m not sure how they resolved it, but Heck did get a Kirby pencil drawing he could keep... one that he told me he treasured more than any other piece of art he owned.

“Jack himself colored the presentation drawings and had them mounted into cardboard mattes. Then he showed them to the aspiring publishers and other industry people who visited him. The drawings fell more or less into two categories: New characters and revamps of old. Some qualified in both camps. “In the ‘revamps’ category were new versions of Thor, Heimdall, Balder, and other players in the Thor comic. One gent who’d approached Jack about launching a new company had the idea that they should do, among other things, a non-Marvel Thor comic. He reasoned that while Marvel might be able to claim copyright on their interpretation of the Norse God, they could not own the concept of Thor any more than someone could claim total ownership of Hercules or Santa Claus. Jack wasn’t sure of the legal ramifications and he also regarded a new Thor as a bad idea. ‘Why try to beat Marvel at their own game?’ he asked. ‘If you’re going to do gods, take them to the next level.’ (The New Gods concept was among those he was then considering.) Still, the idea of revamping the Thor characters intrigued him creatively. “Perhaps it could work or perhaps Marvel would spark to a new interpretation of the strip he had in mind. So when he did the presentation drawings, he included a new Thor (with an odd sword instead of a hammer) and some of his sidekicks. He also whipped up a new version of Captain America… many years later, he was named Captain Glory for one of the Kirby-based Topps Comics… Insofar as I [above] The pencil drawings that Don Heck received in payment for inking Kirby’s concept drawings. This futuristic cityscape was the kind Kirby would eventually depict later for the Fourth World series.

can tell, the rest of the presentation drawings Jack did were all of new characters.”

himself from the Marvel offices, it gave Jack some breathing room to spread his creative wings on ideas that wouldn’t be bound by the restrictions of the Marvel Universe and editor (and now official figurehead) Stan Lee. Having created or co-created (with Lee) most of the major Marvel moneymakers from the Fantastic Four to Thor—and been at least tangentially involved in the genesis of SpiderMan and other characters in books he didn’t work directly on—Kirby felt he deserved more than a flat page rate, and craved to be able to write his own dialogue, so that Stan Lee’s words wouldn’t change the direction he set in his pencil art and margin notes. A last ditch effort at a Galactus origin in Thor which was truncated by Lee in mid-1969 was the last straw. Still, with nowhere to go beyond Marvel at the time, Jack kept

Mark Evanier, Jack F.A.Q.s column, Jack Kirby Collector #47, Fall 2006

No offers from other publishers panned out, and anyway, Jack was hesitant to rock the boat too much at Marvel, fearing for his livelihood. He had been blacklisted at DC due to his dispute with editor Jack Schiff, [left] and there was no other major publisher at the time to offer his talents to. When Perfect Film and Chemical Corporation purchased Marvel Comics in July 1968, making Lee’s continued employment there a stipulation of the deal, it seemed a certainty that Kirby wouldn’t get that offer there. So for the time being, Kirby was stuck at Marvel, and his “new” gods languished as a series of concept drawings that few would see.

Slip Out The Back, Jack In January 1969, Jack Kirby moved his family from New York to California, ostensibly to provide a warmer climate for his daughter Lisa, who suffered from asthma. Besides physically distancing

[top right] On the back of a stat from 1965’s Strange Tales #138, Jack scribbled the names of Norse gods he researched, and used them in Thor Annual #2 (1966). [above] Likely due to a west coast trip to find the Kirby family a new house, Thor #158 ran late and had to use a reprint of Thor’s 1962 origin from Journey into Mystery #83, framed by new filler pages like this. [right] 1960s comic books couldn’t reproduce Jack’s Thor collages in color, so he combined collage and watercolor with stats from comics for his own satisfaction.

his new concept pieces on his studio walls in his new California home, where only invited guests would see them. He knew building fan connections was important for his future, and any new projects were going to live or die by fan response. Shortly after his relocation out west, he attended (as an inconspicuous paying member of the public, not a guest) Westercon XXII, a science-fiction convention held in Santa Monica the weekend of July 4, 1969, to get the lay of the land in terms of local fandom. That soon led to encounters with the planning committee for the first San Diego Comic-Con (now Comic-Con International), and a long association as an honored guest of that event. Comic-Con International co-founder Shel Dorf brought a group of young fans to meet Kirby at his home in 1969, [right] and the discussion that day led to questions about the concept drawings he was stockpiling. [FAN:] “The artwork that you showed us today… do you think you’ll ever use [those characters] in any of the Marvel books?”

completion. Perhaps it’ll come to some conclusion. It might be good, it might be bad. It might be accepted, it might be rejected. But it will be concluded in some way.”

[KIRBY:] “Well, I’ll suggest them and maybe hope that it comes to fruition. And it depends on the outlook at the time… fulfillment,

Jack Kirby interviewed on November 9, 1969

Back in 1967, Kinney National Services, Inc. had purchased National Periodical Publications, becoming the new owner of DC Comics. Around that time, Carmine Infantino had been appointed DC’s art director, and editor Jack Schiff had retired, removing a big impediment keeping Kirby from ever returning to DC. Others, most notably influential editor Mort Weisinger [right] still held a grudge, fueled even more by the fact that Kirby’s Marvel comics of the era were beginning to outsell DC’s own. Infantino, who had worked for Kirby and Joe Simon’s own studio years before, held no such resentment, instead seeing the potential of hiring away Marvel’s top creator, as a feather in his cap that could only help his standing at

[above] As Kirby looked beyond his “old” gods of Thor, in the early 1970s, with the help of assistants Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman, he self-published a set of posters featuring his new renditions of classic Norse mythology characters. Note that his new Thor is renamed “Sigurd” (a dragon-slaying Germanic hero, immortalized as Siegfried in Richard Wagner operas), to avoid any legal hassles with Marvel Comics. [right] The envelope for the GODS poster set sported art that originated as this rejected page from Galactus’ origin in Thor #169, which Mike Royer modified during inking.

[above] Kirby watercolored this presentation piece, and used it to sell the New Gods idea to prospective publishers. [below] Numerous full-page illustrations like this Thor page were held back from Marvel during the 1960s, and remained unused at the request of Jack’s wife Roz Kirby, who felt they were too good to offer the company, in light of their shabby treatment of her husband. [next page] Another example of Kirby incorporating comics, watercolor, and collage, for his personal enjoyment. Note that this Thor has red hair, as he did in mythology.

the company. In 1969, when Infantino was promoted to Editorial Director and Weisinger announced he’d be retiring (which he finally did in June 1970), the only thing stopping Kirby from working for DC was the prospect of his securing a better situation at Marvel— and Infantino was intent on signing Kirby for DC. One account had Infantino visiting the Kirby’s home for Passover, which would’ve been in April 1969. Another had Jack meeting with Carmine at a Los Angeles hotel to discuss the possibility of moving over to DC. Whether those were separate visits or the same, the purpose was clear.

Kirby put together [above], which was recently discovered by the Jack Kirby Museum. Made from copying some of the individual concept drawings, it included specific verbiage, hand-lettered by Jack, to pitch the idea and build interest. Three of Jack’s other concept drawings (Darkseid, Metron, and Faces of Evil) would seem to have been done around the time Kirby was meeting with Infantino, with Faces of Evil having a 1969 date. All three contain elements of collage, unlike the earlier ones, which eschewed backgrounds. So it’s assumed they were all done after

“I was living here in California, in Irvine. I get a message that Carmine Infantino is out in California and wants me to come up to his hotel. To make it short, they wanted me to save Superman. I said, well, I wasn’t too happy with what was happening at Marvel. I thought, maybe this is the time to change.” Jack Kirby interview conducted by Howard Zimmerman in March 1982 for Comics Scene #2

Infantino recalled the event many years later. “[Kirby] then trotted out these three pieces, the New Gods, Mister Miracle and Forever People. He said, ‘These I want to do but I won’t do them for Marvel.’” Carmine Infantino interview, Comic Book Artist #1, February 28, 1999

The pieces Infantino speaks of, may not’ve been Jack’s actual concept drawings, but a different, hand-colored xerox presentation 34

“I’ll clarify it by saying I’m basically a man. I’m basically a guy from the East Side. I’m basically a guy who likes to be a man, and if you try to deprive me of it, I can’t live with it. That’s what the industry was doing to me, and I had a gut-fall of that. I couldn’t do anything less. I had to get myself as far away... “[Carmine] gave me the opportunity to do The New Gods, and The New Gods was actually a blessing to me because I got off on another course, and The New Gods made sales for DC... Nobody bothered me out here, and I did The New Gods as I saw ’em. I did The New Gods as I felt they should be done. “DC was actually like a haven because I was an individual there. I was able to do something under my own name. In other words, if I wrote, ‘Jack Kirby’ wrote it. If I drew, ‘Jack Kirby’ drew it. And the truth was there, and I began to write and draw, and I felt at last a sense of freedom, and with the sales rising from those books, my freedom became more apparent to me, and I felt a hell of a lot better.”

Kirby’s move to California, and Faces of Evil may’ve been the springboard for Kirby’s conceptualization of the villains for his upcoming series. Likewise, while its date is unknown, the cover image of the book you’re now reading, titled The Gods, may’ve been done as Kirby was formulating his Fourth World ideas. Curiously, in Thor #167 (on-sale in June 1969), a reader posits in the letter column that the “old” gods had already been supplanted by “new” gods, and that’s why Kirby’s Thor bears no resemblance to the red-bearded Thor of mythology. Whether Kirby regularly read the letter columns in his comics is unknown. What is known, is that in December of 1969, Kirby went back to New York to negotiate a better deal with Marvel’s new owner, Perfect Film. All he got was an unappreciative “take it or leave it” deal, and he returned home from New York with only an agreement to produce two full-length Inhumans stories, and to draw the first issue of a new Ka-Zar comic. “Jack did not leave Marvel in 1970 because he thought DC could make his dreams come true. He left Marvel because the contract he would have had to sign if he stayed was so onerous, he could not stay. He went to DC because it seemed like the only place he could go... and if he wasn’t going to get into a whole ’nother line of work, it probably was.”

Jack Kirby interviewed by Gary Groth, conducted Summer 1989, published in The Comics Journal #134, February 1990

As you can see, a big issue for Kirby at that point was the ability to dialogue and edit his own strips, without outside interference— exactly what DC was promising him. Stan Lee at Marvel seemed to finally budge on allowing that, letting Jack script a couple of short mystery stories for Chamber of Darkness, and the new Inhumans series that was part of his final Marvel negotiations. But in what may have been part of that concession, Kirby was forced to draw Silver Surfer #18 for Marvel, taking over from John Buscema (who in turn drew a Thor issue) in a last-ditch attempt to save Stan Lee’s pet project from cancellation, with a new direction. But as humiliating at that high-profile switch was for Jack, Lee made major editorial changes to Kirby’s low-profile Chamber of Darkness #4 short story, requiring extensive redrawing by Jack. Lee also outright rejected Kirby’s penultimate story intended for Fantastic Four #102 (though it would eventually be published, heavily altered, in Fantastic Four #108, after Kirby had left Marvel).

Mark Evanier, Jack F.A.Q.s column, Jack Kirby Collector #62, Winter 2013

That left him at a crossroads which cleared his path to DC Comics, and his magnum opus: The New Gods. It was just a six-block walk from Marvel to DC’s offices, where he entered into final negotiations to switch companies, albeit secretly. “There comes a time when you’ve had a gut-full of everything. I had a gut-full of Marvel, a gut-full of New York... Carmine Infantino also had kind of a gut-full. He came out here, and he was very kind to me... Infantino was an artist, and he was always a very good artist, and then he became the editor and publisher of DC.

When Chamber of Darkness #4 finally saw print, it was without the nostalgic Kirby and Lee cameo [right] that Jack had originally drawn in the last panel of his story “The Monster”—though Kirby’s story title may’ve referred to his editor as much as the protagonist of the tale. Other final panels in Silver Surfer #18, Amazing Adventures #1 and Fantastic Four #102 [left, top to bottom] made clear the antagonism that was on Kirby’s mind. By February 1970, Jack was ready to sign with DC, and take on Lee and Marvel head-on.

Make A New Plan, Stan “Jack closed his DC deal in stages. He had to be extremely definite about going to DC before he made the call to Stan Lee. Once he made the call to Stan, it became public knowledge, within 48 hours probably.” Mark Evanier interviewed by Jon B. Cooke in October 1999, for Comic Book Artist Special Edition #1

On March 6, 1970, Jack Kirby made that call to Stan Lee and quit Marvel Comics, just after his final Fantastic Four pencil pages arrived in the mail. A few days later, Lee sat down to write his “Stan’s Soapbox” editorial for the Bullpen Bulletins fan page that would appear in Fantastic Four #102, Kirby’s final consecutively published issue. “Remember a few years back when Steve Ditko suddenly left the hallowed halls of Marvel to seek his fortunes elsewhere? Well, at the time of this writing (early in March), Jack Kirby has unexpectedly announced his resignation from our surprised but stalwart little staff.” STAN LEE:

Stan Lee, in the Bullpen Bulletins page for Marvel’s September 1970 cover-dated releases

Ditko, who co-created Spider-Man with Lee, had left Marvel in 1966 over similar creative differences, and nearly convinced Kirby to jump ship with him at the time. That same Bullpen Bulletins page heavily promoted John Romita—the man Stan was turning to, to take over drawing the Fantastic Four from Kirby, just as he took over Spider-Man when Ditko left. Lee made other major shake-ups in light of Kirby leaving, without saying that was the reason for them. After two issues by Neal Adams, Lee put John Buscema on Thor, in a move that made Stan’s earlier Silver Surfer/Thor swap look like it was a preemptive try-out to take Thor away from Kirby. JOHN BUSCEMA:

“I’ll never forget when I walked into Stan’s office and heard that Jack left. I thought they were going to close up! As far as I was concerned, Jack was the backbone of Marvel.”

John Buscema interviewed by Jon B. Cooke, November 18, 1997

Lee’s righthand man Roy Thomas had his own recollections of that era, including an intriguing notion that Kirby may’ve at least broached the subject of a new mythology with Lee prior to quitting. “It was after Jack moved out to L.A. At some stage, Stan called me into his office, and told me Jack had some new characters he wanted to do, some new concepts and ideas. And Stan was very happy wanting to keep Jack on Thor and Fantastic Four. I’ve always had the feeling that it may have been Jack thinking of offering Marvel things like The New Gods. “It was not that much longer after that that he quit. I know Stan was very upset, and a little depressed when he called me and Sol [Brodsky] into the office to tell us Kirby had just called to quit. When he quit, he was already working for DC. He had already set up everything else before he even told Stan he was thinking of quitting. I think this is because Jack bottled it all in, so when he quit, he had to do it as a clean, total break, with no niceties. You can see where almost anybody would be upset in that kind of circumstance. “[Stan] knew there were some difficulties, but he certainly didn’t see it coming that Jack was quitting, or I never got any indication of it… with Jack, he sort of bottled it up, and Stan knew there were problems, but he didn’t know how deep they ran.”

ROY THOMAS:

[above] Neal Adams hid a clever commentary on the Lee/Kirby relationship in this Thor #180 panel.

Roy Thomas interviewed by Jim Amash in September 1997, published in Jack Kirby Collector #18, January 1998

far as I was concerned, if he’d have told me he wanted to do his own book, I’d have said fine, and let him write it and draw it, but he never said it to me. I’ve heard that he was tired of doing things that he never owned, to copyright his characters, shares of the profits, and so on. I wish I’d had the same thing, I don’t blame him. But what surprises me is that he doesn’t have any copyright now at National, as far as I know. So, I really don’t know why he left.”

Was Kirby’s resignation a surprise to Lee? “Yeah. In fact, when he was in California, I remember we were still very friendly. I came to visit him a few times at his house. I even went to his... I forget now, his son’s wedding or his daughter’s wedding. We were very friendly until the very end.” STAN LEE:

Stan Lee interviewed by Charles Murray in February– March 1975, published in April 1975 in Fantasy Advertiser International

Upon learning of the departure—and perhaps as a sign of solidarity—Marvel mainstay Marie Severin pinned a Kirby cigar butt to a cork-board in the bullpen, with an “I Quit!”word balloon [above].

Stan Lee interviewed on October 11, 2001 by Jon B. Cooke, published in Jack Kirby Collector #33

If things had gone differently with his Marvel negotiations, could Kirby have done his New Gods books at Marvel?

Formation Of An Epic “From characters like Galactus and the Watcher, I evolved the Fourth World... which was entirely biblical, with New Genesis and Apokolips and the gods of New Genesis and the gods of Apokolips, the evil gods, the good gods, and gods that were trapped between good and evil, and are, of course, frustrated.”

“He could have. I don’t really know why he left. I think it was a personal thing. Jack never told me. I think it could be as simple as the fact that he got sick of everything he did saying ‘by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’. Maybe he just wanted to do his own thing and have the books saying ‘by Jack Kirby.’ But, as STAN LEE:

Jack Kirby interviewed in Lucca, Italy in 1976, published in Jack Kirby Collector #48

“[Silver Surfer and Galactus] were figures that had never been used before in comics. They were above mythic figures. And of course they were the first gods. I began thinking along those lines, and The New Gods evolved. I began to ask myself, ‘Everybody else had their gods. What are ours? What is the shape of our society in the form of myths and legends? Who are our gods? Who are our evil ones, and our good ones?’” Jack Kirby interviewed by Ken Viola, for the Masters of Comic Book Art video (1987)

In a 1971 interview, Kirby revealed how long he’d had the idea for New Gods, Forever People, and Mister Miracle. “Well, I guess for several years it’s probably been in the back of my mind, but I’ve never sat [top] Kirby at work on this remarkable example of his high-tech machinery, circa 1969. The mechanicallyinked version of it [left] appeared as this cover for the Marvelmania Portfolio, assembled by Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman, and released just as Kirby left Marvel.

down and worked it out, though I’ve always known it’s been there… I feel that whatever story there is to this ‘gods’ business, the ‘new’ gods or the ‘old’ gods, I feel that there is a story to them. I feel that there was an actual replacement of the ‘old’ gods by new ones which are relevant to what we see and hear. In other words, Thor may have been great in medieval times, but I feel somehow that we have transcended. Once it had a certain glamour, but now we need a new kind of glamour. Not that it isn’t fantastic, but we don’t see it in the same light anymore. I think we see things differently, the same things with an altered interpretation. You know what Thor looked like, what Mercury looked like, what Zeus looked like, and all the rest of them. It’s like everything that’s done and seen. What I’m trying to do is show the things that haven’t been done or seen. “We have our ‘new’ god today—technology. A new way of looking at things that I have got to represent. How do I represent that new technology? I’ve got Metron. How do I represent the kind of feelings we have today? Maybe some of us are analyzing ourselves, trying to find out why we’re a violent society and how we could be non-violent, so we all become Orion. Why do these feelings live like that inside of us? Not only do we associate ourselves with them, but these are conflicts. But why do we have conflicts like that inside of us? So we try to analyze it, just like Orion does. “That’s what the gods are. They are just representations of ourselves. At that time, you take a crummy Viking, remove the glamour, and what the heck was he? Some poor guy in bear skins who never took a bath. He had a beard with lice in it and he says: ‘Look at me, I’m a really cruddy object’—and I felt the same way. The G.I.s feel the same way sometimes when they’re sitting in some hole but suddenly he says: ‘What the heck am I doing? What am I a symbol of?’ And then he begins to idealize the version of all the bravery that goes into the fight. Maybe he begins to see himself as Thor and his captain as Odin. Then he sees what he’s fighting for. He sees why he’s in that hole, why he’s in the dirt, why he’s dressed in that stupid uniform. It’s not only functional—it’s

symbolic of what he is; he comes into a whole new world and he feels pretty good about it. That’s what it’s all about—to make everything we see and know around and in us, and give it some meaning; and the gods are nothing more than that. They are making us see some value in us and we have that value. So in order to express that value, we make ‘new’ gods. “We can’t be Thor. We can’t be Odin anymore. We’re not a bunch of guys running around in bear skins; we’re guys that wear spacesuits and surgeon’s masks. A surgeon is godlike because he handles life and death. If you want to idealize him, that’s the way to do it. A nuclear physicist is Metron. A mathematician is Metron. A guy who works a projection booth in a theatre is Metron. We’re trying to know everything and we’ve got the equipment to do it. That’s where Metron’s chair comes in. It’s one of our gadgets. That damn chair can do anything! “Thor was very real to this guy in the Middle Ages, and not only that; if you think about it, Thor was a religion as well. Thor is not a comic book story—Norse mythology was a religion, just as Greek mythology was. I was being superficial when I did Thor and if I showed it to a guy who was really involved with it, he would tell me it wasn’t good enough.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Mark Sigal, David Rubin, Paul Hock, and Marc Bigley on January 31, 1971 (November 1971 publication date) for Comic & Crypt #5

Upon signing his new DC contract, Kirby immediately began setting up what he hoped would be a “DC Comics West.” He knew he’d need help with the large task ahead, so he enlisted the aid of a couple of eager fans he’d previously met through their work with the Marvelmania Fan Club. [MARK EVANIER:] “…there was this strange day [at Marvelmania] ...Jack and Roz Kirby walked in, and they asked if they could take us to lunch, because I had met Jack [one] day in ’69, and then I took [Steve] down to his house once or twice in Irvine, and then we went to see him in Thousand Oaks after they moved. We’d become friends with them,

and they were impressed with A) how much we knew about comics, and B) how hard we were working on stuff for Marvelmania and how well some of it was coming out, of what did come out. Jack understood completely what was wrong with the company, with the guy there… And we went to Canters Delicatessen, and Jack had potato pancakes. I remember that. I don’t know why I remember that. But he ate potato pancakes with his hands, like the traditional way, and he said to us—well, I’m talking too much. You tell the story of what happened that day.” [STEVE SHERMAN:] “I think that’s when he told us he was going to DC, and we were like, ‘How can you do that? You’re Jack Kirby! You’re at Marvel! You can’t go to DC!’ He says, ‘Yeah, I’m going to DC. I’m quitting. And they’re going to give me all this stuff, and I’m going to need some help, and I’d like you guys to come and help me.’ And we were like, ‘Well, sure!’ We didn’t ask what he was going to pay, we didn’t ask anything. We just said, ‘Sure.’ So that’s when we started, and we went up to visit him at the house, and that’s where he showed us all the New Gods stuff, and Mister Miracle, and all that presentation art that he had. And we were just floored. We were wowed by it. Just went, like, ‘Woo!’ It was amazing.” [MARK EVANIER:] “We had to sit on that secret for about a month, and there came a day when he told us we could tell a few people, and nobody believed us.”

and they didn’t want to do it... They didn’t want to abdicate that power.” [STEVE SHERMAN:] “[Sol] Harrison and [Jack] Adler? They were not going to have that.” Mark Evanier interviews Steve Sherman on the “NEWS FROM me” blog (www.newsfromme.com) on August 6, 2020

Kirby wasn’t hesitant to discuss his reasons for switching from Marvel to DC. “I can only say that DC gave me my own editing affairs, and if I have an idea I can take credit for it. I don’t have the feeling of repression that I had at Marvel. I don’t say I wasn’t comfortable at Marvel, but it had its frustrating moments and there was nothing I could do about it. When I got the opportunity to transfer to DC, I took it. At DC I’m given the privilege of being associated with my own ideas. If I did come up with an idea at Marvel, they’d take it away from me and I lost all association with it. I was never given credit for the writing which I did. Most of the writing at Marvel is done by the artist from the script. “I was faced with the frustration of having to come up with new ideas and then having them taken from me. So, I was kind of caught in a box and I had to get out of that box, and when DC came along and gave me the opportunity to do it, I took it. I believe working for DC can lead to other experimentation and a better kind of comic book, and the kind of comic book that could lead to all sorts of different things.”

That spring, Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman officially became Kirby’s assistants to help with his new DC Comics assignments. But as alluring as the idea of a West Coast DC operation was to Kirby, it wasn’t destined to be. [MARK EVANIER:] “We heard plans about opening a DC office on the Warner Brothers lot—which they kind of have, now. DC Comics is now a stone’s throw from Warner Brothers. But, at the time, that was like a talked-about thing, and Carmine kept saying he wanted to do it,

Jack Kirby interviewed by Bruce Hamilton in 1971, for Rocket’s Blast ComiCollector #81

When later asked what he felt the advantages were to working at DC instead of Marvel, Jack was resolute. “I have a lot more leeway. I can think things out, do them my way and know I get credit for the things I do. There were times at Marvel when I couldn’t say anything because it would be taken away from me and put in another context, and it would be lost—all my connection with it would be severed. For instance, I created the Silver Surfer, Galactus, and an army of other characters, and now my connection with them is lost. “You get to feel like a ghost. You’re writing commercials for somebody and… it’s a strange feeling, but I experienced it and I didn’t like it much.” May 14, 1971 Jack Kirby interview on Northwestern University’s WNUR-FM, conducted by Tim Skelly (published much later in The Nostalgia Journal #27, August 1976)

While he’d had no set quota at Marvel Comics, Jack’s new multi-year DC contract stipulated that he was to draw 15 pages a [previous page, top] Jack couldn’t help including elaborate costuming, even in throwaway panels like this one from 1968’s Captain America #106. [left and this page] He would continue scratching that itch with costume designs for a stage production of Julius Caesar at Cowell College in San Jose, California in 1969, done at a fan’s request. Mark Anthony’s line “Let slip the dogs of war” would play a key role in his thinking for New Gods character Orion.

[this spread] The eventual cover of New Gods #1 went through quite an evolution. From left to right: 1) Kirby’s original layout, with a stat of his Orion concept drawing, and the lettering he found for the logo. 2) DC’s Showcase #94 version, before that comic was cancelled. 3) DC’s initial stab at matching Kirby’s design. 4) The published cover.

what resulted. Various folks fiddled with it under Infantino’s supervision and it was finally decided to alter it as they did and to throw in that textured space background. I’m pretty sure Jack was told at the time that it was the handiwork of Neal Adams, but Neal later informed me he had nothing to do with it. So if you’re ever making up an index and you have to specify who inked the cover of New Gods #1, the correct answer is: ‘Don Heck, sort of.’ I suspect that when they shot Jack’s presentation drawing and dropped out the color, it was necessary for some artist to go in and do some touching-up on the Orion drawing.”

week—a nearly impossible task for any other artist. Kirby’s original vision was for his overall series to be considered “The New Gods,” with three individual monthly titles: Orion, Forever People, and Mister Miracle. (A fourth title tying it together called The New Gods was proposed, but somehow the Orion title got renamed that instead.) The May 1970 edition of the fanzine Newfangles (#35) revealed that DC’s tryout comic Showcase was being cancelled with #93; #94 was going to have featured “The New Gods,” but instead it was changed to debut as a standalone title after Kirby raised objections. A photostat of the original Showcase version of the cover exists [above], and that image had a convoluted birth.

Mark Evanier, Jack F.A.Q.s column, Jack Kirby Collector #47, Fall 2006

Since DC insisted his books be bi-monthly, to fulfill the weekly quota under his new contract, Kirby was required to handle one existing DC comic. And Superman was high on DC’s list for being revamped.

“When it came time to design a cover for New Gods #1, either Jack or Carmine decided to use the presentation drawing of Orion in a larger composition. Jack sent it back to New York along with a penciled space background. The idea was that DC’s production department would make a stat of the presentation drawing using filters to bleach out the color. Then they’d paste it in the space indicated on his background after Vince Colletta inked it. Jack also sent back a mock-up of a title logo. In some magazine, he’d seen display lettering that he liked. All the letters necessary to spell out NEW GODS were in the block of copy on the page so he cut them out and repasted them to spell out the name of his new book. Someone at DC—perhaps ace letterer Gaspar Saladino— took that mock-up and lettered the New Gods logo in much the same style. (Before someone asks: Saladino did do the logos for Forever People and Mister Miracle, and Jack had no input into them.) Back at DC, they tried assembling the cover as per Jack’s design and didn’t like

“They wanted me to work with Superman, but I didn’t want to interfere with the work that was being done by the other men. I felt I could create my own novel.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Leonard Pitts, Jr. circa 1986 for Conversations with the Comic Book Creators

Instead, Kirby asked for a title that didn’t have a regular creative team assigned to it, as to not kick someone off and hurt their livelihood. It was agreed he’d take on, of all things, Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen. “I took Jimmy Olsen because it was a dog. It didn’t have the sales 40

of Superman, and I felt the best way I could prove myself was taking a book that was slow and speeding up its sales. That’s the way to prove yourself. And so I took Jimmy Olsen, and Jimmy Olsen became part of the series of books that I did for DC, and they all made money. Jimmy Olsen was making money. DC couldn’t believe it…”

“[Jack] is planning to develop people for these books in case the need comes. He wants people developed to follow his thinking.” Carmine Infantino interviewed by Mark Sigal, David Rubin, Paul Hock, and Marc Bigley on January 31, 1971 (November 1971 publication date) for Comic & Crypt #5

But as they say, always get it in writing.

Jack Kirby interviewed by Gary Groth, conducted Summer 1989, published in The Comics Journal #134, February 1990

“Jack was promised all sorts of things on a casual basis. Carmine would say, ‘Yeah, sure, we’ll discuss that.’ I don’t think he got many firm promises. Carmine understood that Jack wanted to launch books and then turn them over to others but he never promised him it would happen, and even if he had, Carmine would often say things like, ‘I want to do this, but the guys upstairs are overruling me.’”

Kirby’s new contract with DC gave him a semblance of autonomy as his own editor, but right off the bat, Murray Boltinoff, working in the New York offices, was still considered the actual editor of the long-running Jimmy Olsen comic. But Kirby’s goals went way beyond handling a second-tier Superman title, and he believed that DC was open to new types of comics and new formats.

Mark Evanier via email to John Morrow, September 14, 2020

“I mentioned it to Carmine Infantino when he was publisher of DC, [that] I felt that they would get better distribution if they had a larger book, and a higher price book. But with good, original stories... I believe that’s where comics are really headed: Bigger books, better color, better stories, and then, whammo, somewhere in that set-up we’re going to get a classic that nobody’s ever going to forget.”

Genesis Of The Term “Fourth World” So where did the term “Fourth World” come from? “As far as I can recall, the term ‘Third World’ was just becoming a catch phrase in the media. Jack loved words and he loved coming up with punchy names or crazy alliterations. ‘Fourth World’ was a unique and familiar sounding term to describe this new world that he was creating.”

Jack Kirby interviewed in Lucca, Italy in 1976, published in Jack Kirby Collector #48

Jack was also under the impression that once he established the basic concepts of whatever new books he produced, he’d be able to turn them over to other artists and writers, and oversee the creative direction of the series without having to handle the day-to-day drawing and scripting of each issue. Carmine Infantino was, early on at least, tentatively on board with the idea of Kirby eventually handing his books off to other creators.

Steve Sherman interviewed by John Morrow in 1995 for Jack Kirby Collector #6

Having noticed Kirby’s unique combinations of ideas and concepts through the years, I’ve got my own theory of where the term may’ve originated, and it’s not without some circumstantial evidence. On page 7 of Jimmy Olsen #139 (the issue where the term

and it was a tetralogy. I was pushing that term in letter pages, and it never caught on.” Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

As a young reader, I always assumed the term had something to do with the epic running through four different titles (as if each title was one of the “worlds”). But though Mark has asserted that Jimmy Olsen wasn’t considered part of the Fourth World proper, I have to disagree with that notion. Jimmy Olsen’s Habitat appears in New Gods #2, Lightray appears in Olsen #141, and Darkseid, Inter-Gang, and Morgan Edge’s Galaxy Broadcasting (mentioned as late as Mister Miracle #4) were recurring themes in all the titles from Day One—so Jimmy Olsen was a bona fide part of the Fourth World, and certainly more directly connected than Mister Miracle #10-17.

Mapping It All Out After later admitting that he didn’t always plan out longrange stories, Kirby explained how he approached the Fourth World: “All I knew was that I was in an interesting area. I was in an area with terrific possibilities.”

first appeared on a cover), Jimmy returned from an adventure and greeted his fellow newspaper reporter Clark Kent with the salutation [above], “Hail to the WORLD of the FOURTH Estate! Its wandering boy is back!” As a teenager reading that for the first time, that term “Fourth Estate” was unfamiliar to me, and I assumed it had something to do with the “Fourth World” term on that issue’s cover—and now, I suspect I may’ve been right. Medieval Europe’s social hierarchy included three levels (called the “Estates of the Realm”): the First Estate (clergy); the Second Estate (nobility); and the Third Estate (commoners)—and plenty of Medieval Europe inspiration made its way into Jack’s concepts for the series. In more modern times, a “Fourth Estate” was adopted to refer to the press and news media, due to its ability to advocate and report on political issues to further democracy. Kirby was obviously familiar with the term, using it appropriately in his comic involving a major metropolitan newspaper (The Daily Planet) and a national news network (Galaxy Broadcasting System, headed by the sinister Morgan Edge). Perhaps Kirby meant to put “Fourth Estate” atop the cover of Jimmy Olsen #139 [below] as he had in the story inside, and instead made a typo on a cover—juxtaposing the terms “FOURTH Estate” and “Third WORLD” in his mind to inadvertently coin the phrase “Fourth World” as he hurriedly scribbled out the verbiage for a cover blurb—and it stuck. The term’s origin as a cover typo has been suggested:

But did he have some idea how it would all fit together? “Yes—because each book has its own context. The New Gods had its own context, and I worked within that context.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Mark Evanier and Marv Wolfman in 1986, published in Amazing Heroes #100, August 1986

So, how fleshed out was the whole Fourth World epic from its onset? “The whole Fourth World thing—everything—was subject to change until he actually committed it to paper… He was a completely spontaneous guy. I think sometimes he was genuinely surprised at what he had drawn and written.” Mark Evanier interviewed by Jon B. Cooke in October 1999, for Comic Book Artist Special Edition #1

“By and large, Jack did not have a clear plan for anything he did. He had a bottomless supply of ideas and concepts, and he generally had a sense of the direction in which he wanted to move. But insofar as having a detailed outline which he would then follow, no, he did not have a clear plan. This is why, when folks ask me how Jack would have ended the New Gods saga, all I can do is tell them some of the things he said he had in mind. It would not have surprised me one bit if he’d cooked up something quite different. You have to understand how Jack worked. He would often plot out and draw a sequence—and it was this way at Marvel, as well—with only a ‘feel’ for where he was going next. And he would sometimes change his mind in mid-creation and wind up as surprised as anyone at how his story had turned out. “By and large, the New Gods was assembled that way. Jack had a concept—one that came to him while doing the ‘Tales of Asgard’ backups at Marvel. He had the notion of the two worlds at war—a notion that was born from pondering how readily people could become polarized in the world. He also had a pile of new character ideas. When given the go-ahead to begin writing and drawing his new books, he began fitting those characters into the concept. At that moment, had his whims gone in other directions, Lightray might

“That’s my understanding. Len Wein, oddly enough, is the one who told me this. I had never heard the term until suddenly I discovered everyone was using it. It kind of snuck up on us. The fourth issues of New Gods, Forever People and Mister Miracle all say that, and I think it was intended to be that each comic is a world in itself, so here’s the fourth world, the next issue will be the fifth world, the next the sixth world—but they only did that gimmick on the fourth issues. “I looked up what the equivalent of a trilogy was with four books,

[above] This panel shows an example of Murphy Anderson’s replacement of Kirby’s Clark Kent head, at DC’s insistence. [next page, top] A comical Kirby self-portrait from Jimmy Olsen #134, and a 1971 photo riffing on that gag of swapping his pencil and his cigar. [right] Used for the mailing envelope of Kirby Unleashed, I’d bet this was another unused, altered Thor page from Galactus’ origin.

have been a member of the Forever People, or Metron might have been held back to appear in an unrelated comic… For the Fourth World books, Kirby had lots of ideas and stories that he intended to do; but he never knew in advance which ones he’d do, in what order he might get to them, or how they might evolve on his drawing table. Also, one should remember that when Jack launched New Gods, Forever People and Mister Miracle, he planned to hand them off to others. He was seeking to get away from cranking out comic book pages, at least in the traditional format. What he wanted to do (ideally) was to inaugurate the new books and then supervise them as they were written and drawn by others, and as spin-offs were added. He initially had no intention of them being his major DC project. He wanted to take comics in different directions—magazines and graphic novels and books for audiences other than super-hero fans. “None of those projects were ever realized, at least in anything near the forms in which Jack envisioned them… Eventually, around the time he did the third or fourth issues of the Fourth World books, Jack came to realize that DC would most likely keep him indefinitely on New Gods, Forever People and Mister Miracle. If the books were hits, they’d want Kirby to stay on them because they were hits with him at the helm; and if they weren’t hits, they’d be cancelled. It was around this point when he began to crystallize his initial notion of building them all into one finite epic. “Aware now that he would be the sole writer/artist of whatever those books became, as opposed to merely their editor, he began to firm up his long range storyline a bit more. But no Kirby storyline was ever definite until he found the moment and means to commit it to paper; and sometimes not even then.”

he didn’t have it plotted out. It wasn’t until he started putting it down on paper that each chapter came to life.” Steve Sherman, interviewed by John Morrow in 1995 for Jack Kirby Collector #6

“He had a beginning, middle and end in his head, and he gave us pieces as he went along. He revised as he went along. Jack was a very instinctual creator. He created by instinct. If you asked him a question about why he did something in an issue, he’d figure out a perfectly logical answer then, but it wasn’t necessarily something he’d articulated explicitly in his mind at the time. And he

Mark Evanier, Jack F.A.Q.s column, Jack Kirby Collector #32, July 2001

But surely Kirby must have had an initial master plan for the Fourth World’s evolution, or stories like “The Pact” and “Himon” wouldn’t have worked so well midway through it. Do his assistants recall him discussing any long-range plans with them early in its production? [MARK EVANIER:] “Yeah, tons of those things. And he didn’t follow half of them.” [STEVE SHERMAN:] “And he also wanted to have other people do it. He just wanted to get them going and have other people come in and write and draw them. I mean, he wanted to have a line going. But they were like, no. ‘We’re paying you top dollar! You’re not going to hand this stuff off to anybody else.’” Mark Evanier interviews Steve Sherman on the “NEWS FROM me” blog (www. newsfromme.com) on August 6, 2020

“He had some of it worked out since he had been working on it for a few years before he started at DC. But 43

only gave you the reason if you forced him to. If you nailed him down and said, ‘How come Darkseid treats Desaad that way?’ he’d give a perfectly valid 25-minute explanation, but that doesn’t mean it was fully formed in his mind when he drew those sequences. He viewed it as a novel that DC would someday repackage and print in a deluxe format, not necessarily completed. They might’ve left certain sections out for the final collection, like in European comics where they serialize a strip and collect it into a novel later. That’s what Jack ultimately had in mind. He originally conceived of New Gods as a novel, but DC put it into a more conventional comic book format. When he went to DC, one of the things he was interested in was doing new sizes and shapes of comics, new formats. He didn’t want to just do the same kind he’d been doing, and that’s all DC wanted out of him. “Jack had this whole concept developed for the Black Racer. Well, New Gods #3 was too soon for it. In #3, we still hadn’t figured out who Metron and Orion and Lightray were. I remember being at Jack’s house and he told Steve and myself this whole story about the Black Racer, and I said, ‘Gee Jack, that’s a great story, but why don’t you hold off and give us three or four more issues of Orion, Lightray and Metron before you put the Black Racer in?’ And I thought I’d talked Jack into it. When Steve and I left that day, Jack was determined not to put the Black Racer in for three or four more issues. We went back the following week and Jack had the first Black Racer story almost drawn! He just felt compelled to do it. He couldn’t help himself. I think in small part he was worried Marvel would beat him to it. Sketches of some of these characters were floating around and I think he was afraid he’d wake up one morning and the Black Racer or something similar would be in a Marvel comic. “He would roughly know what a story was about when he started, but it could change completely by the time he got to the end. There were dozens of cases where Jack told us this wonderful story he was going to do in the next issue, and then sat down and did something completely different. “Jack would start drawing with key sequences, and occasionally a sequence would be kept for another comic when he ended up with extra pages. If you notice, most of the cuts between scenes occur on page breaks. That’s a function of him juggling pages back and forth and doing sequences out of order. Occasionally, if it cuts in the middle of a page, he’d erase half a page in order to start it there. He just basically worked it through, and the first page of the comic might be the last thing drawn, or the first thing drawn.”

One thing never in doubt, was that the Fourth World was Jack’s immediate response to the question, “What happens after Ragnarok, when the old Marvel gods die?” Jack always viewed New Gods as the logical extension of his Thor mythology, and even the young god Lonar was seen holding the remnants of Thor’s helmet in his first back-up story appearance in Forever People #5. “The Old Gods, I felt, belonged in the context of the Middle Ages. What I did was to go on beyond their destruction (chronicled in their mythology) and resurrect the concept in more modern terms. “I refer to Karnilla of the Thor stories. Even as Good and Evil mesh in principle, it was my choice to have her pregnant by Balder, the genetic seeder of New Genesis.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Jonathan Bacon in Fall of 1973, published in Fantasy Crossroads #1, 1974

Working at home in the seclusion of his studio, did he spend lots of time just sitting there thinking before putting pencil to paper, and did he discuss the ideas with wife Roz Kirby as he was coming up with them? “No, he never discussed the ideas, because he would sit down at the board, right? With the paper blank, he would just start drawing. I’d ask, ‘How do you know what the story is?’ He’d say, ‘I know what the story is.’ Like when he was doing the trilogy—The New Gods—three books at one time, or four books. I said, ‘How do you know when one story starts and one story ends?’ He says, ‘Because I just know.’ And that’s the way he was. He’d put a hand in one panel, and a foot in another panel, and somehow it all came together. ROZ KIRBY:

New Gods #1 began with an Epilogue! Here’s the splash page as published [above] and as drawn [left]. To make room for the indicia, DC’s production department removed a horizontal section of the art above the sword, and slid the rest up.

Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

“I never saw him just sit and stare at the paper, and he never used a blue pencil. He just sat down there and drew away. If he found that he couldn’t do it, he’d just keep away from the board. But that wasn’t too often… I can’t remember a time. I really can’t. I’d always say to him, ‘How do you think up these things?’ He’d just say, ‘I don’t know. I just do.’ I always said he was born before his time. I said I thought the aliens would come and pick him up and take him back.”

What was a typical workday like for Jack’s two assistants? [MARK EVANIER:] “I didn’t drive then, so Steve picked me up and we drove out there together.” [STEVE SHERMAN:] “We’d usually go out on a weekend, on a Sunday. Sometimes we’d go during the week, but usually it was on a Sunday. And we’d go there. Sometimes during the week. But we’d also meet during the week to work. We’d go to your house and we’d work on stuff. One of the first things we started working on was the Kirby Unleashed portfolio, and we worked long and hard on that. So that was one of the things that we were working on. And we’d go out—now, we talked to—well, we interviewed Jack, a big long interview, then we also went over the stuff we wanted to put in that book, and that’s when he showed us his closet full of originals, the artwork. I have that picture of you sitting there going through all that stuff. So we did that, then we’d work on the comics stuff. But yeah, we’d go out there together.”

Rosalind Kirby interviewed by John Morrow on December 12,1995, published in Jack Kirby Collector #10

“It all came from his head. Maybe occasionally there was a scrap of paper with something written on it; a name or descriptions, but other than that, when he sat down at the table and started to—I shouldn’t say ‘draw’, because he was writing and drawing at the same time. The pencil would go down, and he’d start, and maybe an hour-and-a-half later there’d be a page. And it would be all broken down into story, and he’d go on to the next page. And he always ended up with 22 pages. It always had a beginning, a middle, and an end. When he was at DC, you have to remember he did that seven days a week, four weeks out of the month. He’d do one book, 22 pages, in seven days, finish it and go to the next book with entirely different characters and different stories, and the next one, and the next one, and go back, and keep knocking them out.”

What was Jack’s own work schedule like when they assisted him? If he worked all night and slept late, like I’ve heard over the years, did they see him actively drawing when they were there, or did most of the drawing take place after they left for the day? [MARK EVANIER:] “We saw him actually drawing a lot.” [STEVE SHERMAN:] “Yeah, because he would start and stop, you know? I mean, the bulk of it he would start at night, but then during the day, when he had time, he’d sit down and keep going, and then stop, keep going.” [MARK EVANIER:] “My recollection is that Jack would start work around 11: 00 in the morning or so, and he would work until, like, 4:00 in the morning, something like that. He worked until Roz came in and said, ‘Come to bed, Kirby,’ and drug him off, and Jack would go, ‘One more panel! Let me do one more panel here!’ But, yeah, we saw him drawing. He didn’t even draw as well when he was conscious someone was looking at him.”

Steve Sherman at the Kirby Tribute panel, held at Comic Con International: San Diego on July 19, 1997

Mark Evanier interviews Steve Sherman on the “NEWS FROM me” blog (www.newsfromme. com) on August 6, 2020

As his assistants, did Steve and Mark have creative input into Jack’s work? “Only from the standpoint of Jack showing us what he was doing, and asking our opinion. Mostly we came up with things for Jimmy Olsen. This was because Jack had more leeway in the direction of the stories. The other books he pretty much had plotted in his head. I remember Mark and I suggested the ‘Loch Ness’ story. We were all fans of Laurel and Hardy and Jack got a kick out of drawing Jimmy Finlayson.” Steve Sherman, interviewed by John Morrow in 1995 for Jack Kirby Collector #6

That Loch Ness monster story ran in Jimmy Olsen #144. And though Kirby asked his assistants to prepare a script for it, according to Evanier, Jack never read it, and instead proceeded to draw the story on his own, without waiting for his assistants to turn in their version. “Jimmy Olsen #144… bears our names but probably shouldn’t. Jack was hoping he could stop working on Olsen, as it was a book he didn’t [left] An unused 1969 Thor page, showing Karnilla, who gave birth to Apokolips. [previous page, top] Was this 1969 concept for a “new” version of Karnilla? [above] Jack and Roz Kirby relaxing at home in the early 1970s.

improve his characters’ designs. He was always making minor modifications in a character’s costume from issue to issue. [Inkers] Joe Sinnott and Mike Royer could speak to this more authoritatively than I can... but they often corrected the costumes back to the established versions. Anyway, one issue, Jack somehow decided that Mister Miracle’s nose should show through his mask, nostrils and all. Steve and I looked at the pencils for a while going, ‘Gee, something’s wrong and we can’t figure out what.’ Then, finally, we realized it and Jack decided it wasn’t an improvement, so I went in and erased Mister Miracle’s nose in every panel. That’s, like, my most lasting achievement in the history of comics.”

especially enjoy. At one point, he thought that if we started writing it and everyone liked our scripts, he could then suggest to DC that someone else draw it and he could just edit. He had us help with plots for a few issues—mostly, sequences involving the Newsboy Legion. Then, as the time approached to do #144, he told us we were ready to solo; that we should work out a plot for a full issue we would write on our own. We did, and one Sunday, we talked it through with him and adjusted it to incorporate his suggestions and ideas. “It was a story about the Loch Ness monster and I, being a devout scholar of Laurel and Hardy, suggested we model a character on Jimmy Finlayson, the squint-eyed actor who often acted as their foil. I brought Jack a still from Big Business, one of the better Laurel and Hardy shorts. He okayed all of this and asked us to have a full, finished script to him the next time we came out. In the meantime, he’d be doing an issue of New Gods. But as we’d talked through the plot with him, the Kirby imagination—an awesome, unstoppable force—had been engaged. On Monday as he finished his previous story, the New York office called and asked him, for schedule reasons, to do another Olsen before the next New Gods. With the Loch Ness plot still rebounding in his head, and forgetting that he’d sent us off to write a full script, he spent the rest of that week writing and drawing the Jimmy Olsen Loch Ness tale. He used the Finlayson-like character we’d suggested and perhaps 50% of the plot we’d discussed, most of which was his, anyway. When we delivered our finished script about ten days after our previous visit, all three of us were surprised. The issue was already sitting there by his board, all drawn and dialogued and ready to ship. Jack, embarrassed, spent the next few weeks apologizing to us and saying, ‘I’ll make it up to you.’”

Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

Despite the beliefs of some fans of the series, Jack was responsible for 99.99% of the writing of all four titles. “One of the duties Steve and I occasionally had was to look through the story and say, ‘Hey Jack, you’re short a page.’ The Funky Flashman story in Mister Miracle #6 was short a page, and Jack said, ‘Figure out where to put something.’ So I wrote the page where Big Barda takes a bath. If you look at the issue, you can see that the story can be told completely without that page. I just wanted to put Big Barda in the bathtub. …The only page in that whole book that I had any story input into was that one page. I plotted the page and wrote most of the dialogue on it. I think that’s the only page in all of New Gods, Mister Miracle, and Forever People that I actually wrote in any way. Steve and I did almost nothing on the Forever People issues that have our name on them.” Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

Mark Evanier, Jack F.A.Q.s column, Jack Kirby Collector #38, Spring 2003

While Mister Miracle was Steve’s favorite book, Sherman doesn’t feel Kirby had a particular fondness for one over the other.

The boys had other duties beyond tossing out ideas for stories: “There was one issue of Jimmy Olsen [#135] that Jack drew the wrong size. He was doing those black-and-white books [Spirit World and In The Days of the Mob] concurrently and the art for them was drawn 11" x 15". Olsen, like all the other color comics, was drawn 10" x 15", so Jack had two piles of paper cut to size. He drew a whole issue of Jimmy Olsen the wrong size and I had to go through it and erase an inch off the side of each page. In a few cases, I had to trace figures off the page, erase them, then trace them back onto the page... then Jack worked over my pencils to true them up. It was the closest thing to artwork I ever did on any of the books, except for once or twice when I re-penciled Superman’s chest emblem for Jack... the only thing in the world I drew better than him. You can probably pick out that issue of Olsen because I didn’t always take a half-inch off each side. On some pages, I could preserve more of Jack’s drawing by taking more off one side than the other, so a number of pages don’t have the center dividing line in the exact middle. You can see that the center line isn’t where it should be and, also, some panels have some strange cropping. “There was also an issue of Mister Miracle where Jack accidentally gave Mister Miracle a nose. One of the fascinating things about Jack was that he was always, subconsciously I think, trying to

“To him, it was one huge saga and the separate books were a matter of packaging enforced on him by the publisher. If it had been up to him, I think that it would have been one big book that came out once a month. And by big I mean printed 11" x 17" and 64 pages in full-color. Jack was very frustrated with the 6" x 9" format.” Steve Sherman, interviewed by John Morrow in 1995 for Jack Kirby Collector #6

Launching The Whiz Wagon As the new decade of the 1970s dawned, DC’s production department prepared a house ad proclaiming “The Great One Is Coming!” That teaser didn’t mention Kirby by name, so had no real value other than to obscurely crow that they had gotten Marvel’s top creator to jump ship to DC. DC used it to thumb their nose at Marvel in their April 1970-shipping releases. Back in those pre-internet days, most comics news was learned through fanzines, which often sourced their information via letters sent to and from the editors at both Marvel and DC. (Mark Evanier recalls scouring zines like On The Drawing Board for his news fix, and regularly corresponding by mail with the likes of Julie Schwartz, Jack Miller, Robert 46

Kanigher, and E. Nelson Bridwell at DC Comics.) So when the bombshell news of Kirby moving to DC finally leaked out, it quickly spread throughout comics fandom. On March 12, 1970, Don and Maggie Thompson published an unprecedented “Extra” edition of their fanzine Newfangles (#33) announcing Kirby’s departure from Marvel to DC.

then turning it over to other artists and writers—one of the reasons he hired Evanier and Sherman as assistants. Artists he had in mind included Marvel stalwarts Steve Ditko, Wally Wood, Don Heck, and even John Romita—the man who took over Fantastic Four when Kirby left Marvel. “Just a day or two after Kirby left Marvel, he called me up and said, ‘John, here’s the story—you know I’m going to DC.’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ And he said, ‘Here’s what I’d like you to do: I would like you to come over with me and help me. What I want to do is, I want to write more than I draw.’ In other words, he envisioned writing a line of books, like Stan, and he wanted to get me to draw some of his main characters. I might have worked on New Gods or Mister Miracle... probably Mister Miracle. He said he’d love to have me do the pencils for his stuff, and we could set up some kind of a stable. He said, ‘I got some great inkers ready to work on your stuff. It would be great for me, and I think I can make it worth your while. It would be a terrific idea.’ And I said, ‘You know, I got to think it over, Jack.’ I told [my wife] Virginia, and she almost had a heart attack. She said, ‘First of all, if you go with Jack, you’re going to be a Jack Kirby clone.’ And I said, ‘Well, I don’t know how. I’m not going to be working on his artwork. He’s going to be writing and I’m going to be penciling’—although he might have broken them down for me. But JOHN ROMITA:

At the same time, there was inevitable professional animosity toward having Marvel’s main artist, suddenly become the Golden Child at rival DC. “I think one of the things that was operative then was that you had a staff of people who’d been loyal to the company for (in some cases) 20-30 years. Some of them weren’t thrilled to see some guy brought in, and to suddenly be told this guy is the new star of the day, and we’re going to give him the best deal in the place, when he, in fact, had not shown much loyalty to the company over the years. You’ve got to remember this was a time when DC had been throwing bodies out the door, and an awful lot of guys who’d worked for them for many, many years had either been eased out of their jobs, or outright fired. Whether the dismissals were justified or not, most of those who remained were very concerned that DC was forgetting about people who had been loyal to the company for years, and who had delivered, in many cases, books that had been relatively successful. So, all of a sudden, they’re being told there’s a new generation going on here, there’s a new wave, and… anyone would [have resented it].” Mark Evanier interviewed by Jon B. Cooke in October 1999, for Comic Book Artist Special Edition #1

Resentment or not, Marvel’s mainstay artist was indeed bringing his ideas to DC. Forever People #1 was actually the first DC issue he drew, although it wasn’t the first one published. You can tell it was first because Jimmy Olsen’s cameo doesn’t fit after the continuity established in the earlier-published Jimmy Olsen #133 story. As outlined above, Kirby envisioned launching each strip himself,

[above] Kirby’s original drawing for what became the cover of Forever People #1, the first Fourth World issue he drew. At this point, Superman wasn’t a part of the concept (we assume), Beautiful Dreamer looked to be an afterthought, and the kids’ home on New Genesis was to be called “Super City” instead of “Supertown.”

he could break down a hundred stories for me and it wouldn’t affect me, because he didn’t do details on his breakdowns. He did silhouettes and rough scribbles. She said, ‘No, you’re going to end up working for Kirby. Your personality will be buried and nobody will know anything about you.’ I couldn’t argue with it, but I was tempted. “I’ll never quite forgive myself for not giving that a try, notwithstanding Virginia’s protests, because there’s no telling whether I could have made a difference on Mister Miracle. He might not have gotten so exhausted on the whole thing.” 2001 Interview with John Romita, by Roy Thomas

DC Comics knew the value in having Kirby attached to the new titles, and played up his name throughout Summer 1970, as “Kirby is Coming!” blurbs appeared in various DC issues. In conjunction with Kirby’s return, DC featured reprints of his work in three issues of Challengers of the Unknown (#75–77) before putting that title on hiatus. At the same time, World’s Finest Comics #197 [above] featured a headlined 1950s Green Arrow story reprint by Kirby. Infantino obviously knew getting Kirby to jump ship was a major coup, despite the pushback he felt from others there. “I thought it was a very important signing. Jack was always one of my favorites, and I wanted to get him back to DC. There were many people who didn’t want him with us, primarily because of the bad feelings left over from the lawsuit with Jack Schiff. I had to smooth over a number of fences first, but I did. “Upstairs and Independent News—and Schiff’s friends who were still there; they were all complaining. The art department didn’t want Kirby; nobody liked him, only because they defended Schiff... Sol [Harrison] had his likes and dislikes.” Carmine Infantino interviewed circa 2009 by Jim Amash

In July 1970, Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman visited the Marvel offices in New York (they also stopped by DC Comics while they were in town). They were still serving as representatives of Marvelmania International, and Mark was the editor of Marvelmania magazine at the time, dealing with Stan Lee and his righthand man Roy Thomas regularly. According to Lee’s follow-up blurb in Marvel’s January 1971 cover-dated releases, “They’re a couple of young, zingy, with-it guys” who were in town to attend the 1970 New York Comic-Con. Marie Severin, John Romita and others at Marvel knew the pair had already accepted positions as Kirby’s assistants, and while Evanier didn’t recall if they specifically mentioned it to Lee, they weren’t keeping it a secret. Kirby’s three new core DC books were mentioned (with bullet art) in that Summer 1970’s San Diego Comic-Con program book [above], with its Kirby cover. At the convention, Kirby took questions from the audience about his departure from Marvel Comics. “Why’d I quit? ...The situation demanded it. That’s the only thing I can tell you. The details would bore you. But I can tell you that the situation demanded it. I do what I have to do. I can’t vacillate. I’m not an indecisive man. I do what I have to do, and, y’know, I did it at that time... Somehow, there’s something happening at the company where you are that makes you feel... that’s all you can do for it. And that’s not enough, so I go somewhere else.” Jack Kirby speaking at San Diego’s Golden State Comic-Con, between August 1–3, 1970 in San Diego, California

Just after that appearance, on August 25, Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133 was released, with Kirby’s first ’70s work for DC. It featured the groundwork for the coming Fourth World opus, replete with a veritable explosion of new characters and concepts, including an updated Newsboy Legion, the Whiz Wagon, sinister media mogul Morgan Edge, Inter-Gang, and many other wild ideas. Comics—and Jack Kirby himself—would never be the same. [above] Letter column blurb from Jimmy Olsen #132, heralding Kirby’s arrival, and [right] the DC house ad that ran just prior to the August 25 release of #133, Jack’s first issue.

THE FOUR CORNERS

SOURCE

Of The Fourth World

“Darkseid is total power. How do we handle

et’s delve briefly that? Orion is total destruction. He’s on our doorinto sources for the step, now. Lightray is purest virtue. How would you characters and stick it to him if you had to? Who would deny that concepts in his “New Gods” series. Kirby Metron is alive? The capacity for obtaining total did find inspiration knowledge is growing rapidly all around us. Yet for many of his new all of us will know the frustration of dying before characters in real every universal secret is revealed. Even as Metron people. But those lives without all the answers, we shall pass away sources had only tenuous initial ties, at before a mighty, empty blackboard. best—and sometimes “Yes, the gods are there. But we’re still not equipped to get in on were a convoluted their action. So they play their game wherever they see fit. By creative mish-mash of whoevprojection, I merely sought to draw some interest in their direction. er was rattling around Scott Free... he’s the best in man, in contention with the machinery of in his brain at a given power. It’s oily and noisy and deadly. Man’s problem is to juggle it so he moment, or someone he’d recently had doesn’t get too dirty, too loud or too sick. Mother Box is as inexplicable an encounter with. as the Source. She’s a quality in man which gives him an edge when he While he elaborated needs it.” in a 1971 interview Jack Kirby interviewed by Jonathan Bacon in Fall of 1973, published in Fantasy Crossroads #1, 1974 [Train Of Thought #5] that “Nobody is any definable person that rience I think comes out in the drawing. And sometimes I’m acquainted with,” it was actually not quite as cutit’s even shocking to me to find people I like from my and-dried as that. own family suddenly coming out as characters that are “It’s a very strange thing; in many of my characters I’ll see reflections of my own family. Sometimes it just comes out that way. And it can be a villain, a hero, or a guy in the crowd, and he’ll suddenly look like my father or my uncle, and I’ve had a couple look like my brotherin-law—he never looked so good. An artist draws from his own environment; whatever he sees in his own expe-

very unwholesome. But the resemblance is there, and it’s one aspect of the strip that becomes very entertaining to me.”

Jack Kirby at the 1972 Comic Art Convention Luncheon (originally published in the 1973 Comic Art Convention program book)

A more concrete rationale for that was offered by Kirby’s former assistant Mark Evanier:

TO AND FROM THE

“Jack based everybody that he ever drew in comics on somebody. I think he always had to have some sort of emotional handle on a character before he could draw that character into a story... and that meant referencing a real person, however tenuously. In some cases the references were so far removed that it’s impossible to see the final connection. Everything he plotted was based on somebody in his mind.” Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

So how exactly does one convey a broad range of emotional ties, in a series that’s about a pantheon of deities who were supposed to be above us mere mortals? For Kirby, he started by bringing it all down to Earth. [left] Kirby holding court with fans including Barry Alfonso [left] circa 1973 at his home. Note the plethora of books on his studio shelves—evidence of how well read Jack was.

“I don’t like [using existing characters like Jimmy Olsen and Superman in my stories] because people in charge of those comics have their own image of the character, and I’m up against that conditioning. If I draw Superman, for instance, of course he’ll look a little different. The character is bound to have certain characteristics that I alone could put in him, just as much as the man who has always drawn him has put into him. My version is going to be different from somebody else’s, and the hazards are small, minor conflicts—like with the eyes—and they might disturb people who’ve been used to imagining Superman or having live with a certain image of Superman for a number of years. Therefore, it’s always a hazard to take another character and do him your way, because you’re always up against opposition of some kind from people who’ll say that’s not their image of Superman, or any other character you’ll handle. Therefore, I’m a little leery about doing that sort of thing, but I’ve taken [some established characters] on at DC and I feel that I’m doing good with them.” May 14, 1971: Jack Kirby interview on Northwestern University’s WNUR-FM, conducted by Tim Skelly, published much later in The Nostalgia Journal #27, August 1976

But despite Kirby’s reticence to use other people’s characters, he threw everything he had into the Jimmy Olsen assignment, and his New Gods saga received some much-needed grounding in humanity—starting, ironically enough, with a super-human iconic character possessing godlike abilities.

SUPERMAN FAMILY: The Humanity The first Fourth World issue to appear in print was Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133, and while it was clear that Kirby was up to something previously unseen in comics (Jimmy Olsen’s or otherwise), it wasn’t yet apparent from that initial story just how sweeping of an epic readers were about to experience.

SUPERMAN & JIMMY OLSEN Having been hired initially with the goal of revamping Superman for the 1970s, Kirby humanized the Man of Steel in the first story he actually drew him in, for Forever People #1. In it, the Kryptonian bemoaned the fact that he was alone on Earth, a planet of non-super beings who could never truly relate to what it was like to be so evolutionarily above them, and how he longed to find others of his own kind. “In the first story we thought that it would be important to use [Superman] and see how relative he would be to that kind of thing. And Superman is relative. Superman has, despite the fact that he is a super-being, emotions just like everyone else. He’s not a robot. If I were a super-being, I’d just be a human being with super-powers, which is the way I see Superman. He’s a human being with super-powers and he can be lonely; he has emotions, he can be in love, he can hate people. He hates evil. “But Superman is invincible, and Superman is the first super-being to come into literary life. There he is alone. That’s the way I see him. If I were a Superman among two billion people, despite the fact that I was a super-being, I’d feel pretty insecure. For instance, say I was a white hunter in Africa and I were to walk into a cannibal village. Despite the fact that I had a gun and they didn’t, despite the fact that I had ammunition and they didn’t, I’d feel pretty insecure, despite the fact that I could probably shoot my way out. Superman is alone in our world. “If suddenly two, three billion people developed a psychosis—say they felt you were a danger. What if Superman didn’t want to be good? What if Superman wanted to be evil? What if Superman wanted to impose his power on us? That’s the

[above] Rejected cover for Jack’s first Jimmy Olsen issue, and [right] a heavyweight champ’s inadequacy shows in Forever People #1. [top] Kirby drew this image for the corner logo on Jimmy Olsen covers, but DC opted for an image by DC’s usual staff Superman artists instead [above right].

way human beings think. Did you ever feel that although you gave authority to some people, they might abuse it? Suppose that someone said that Superman might abuse his powers and have reason to harm us? Suppose you believed him? What would you do? You’d try to kill Superman. That’s what Superman faces. Superman faces three billion inferior people; and not only inferior, but Superman has to make sure they don’t feel insecure about the fact that they’re inferior to him. That’s a Superman’s problem, or else he’d better take off for the moon.” Jack Kirby interviewed in Train Of Thought #5, 1971

At the end of Forever People #1, Superman gave up his chance to travel to the planet New Genesis, but hoped that one day he would have that chance again. Unfortunately, Jack’s insightful forethought into Superman’s situation was immediately forgotten in the rush of new concepts and characters springing from his imagination. For most of Jack’s Olsen run, Superman took a back seat to Jimmy— occasionally rescuing him from tight spots, but usually pulling back enough to let Jimmy shine in his own book. Olsen was at first the semi-adult mentor for the Newsboy Legion, but separated from them halfway through the run for a tale or two as a more mature adventurer in his own right. In Jimmy Olsen #147 [right], Kirby returned to that dangling plot thread from Forever People #1, of Superman finally getting to go to “Supertown” to be among his own kind. With the help of Highfather’s counsel, the Man of Steel realized that his real purpose in life was to make a difference on Earth, not New Genesis, and so he returned home, finally content with his place in the world.

Kirby would revisit Superman’s legendary status briefly in 1975’s Kamandi #29, in a plot suggested by assistant Steve Sherman (and hinting at an evolutionary tie between the Fourth World, and future timelines in OMAC and Kamandi). But most of the human touches readers enjoyed in Jimmy Olsen came from Kirby, not his assistants. “Steve [Sherman] and I wrote a bunch of things for Jimmy Olsen. We did the letter pages, and gave Jack a little bit of input, some of which he followed, but most of it he didn’t. I can’t really claim any credit for anything that’s good in those books.” Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

A nice shout-out to his fans came into play in Jimmy Olsen #144-145, with the inclusion of the San Diego Five-String Mob. As a fun appreciation of several California comics fans he’d met since he moved there in 1969, Jack inserted that villainous Apokolips rock band into the strip, basing each character on young fans he knew: Mike Towry, Roger Freedman, Will Lund, Scott Shaw, and John Pound. A sixth (?) member of the fiveman group, Barriboy (based on fan Barry Alfonso, who would also be the inspiration for Witchboy in Kirby’s later Demon series) also popped up. Jack even referenced a popular 1960s anti-war song in a pencil drawing that appeared in the 1971 San Diego Comic-Con program book [left], just prior to the group’s comics debut. NEWSBOY LEGION & THE GUARDIAN These characters date back to 1942’s Star-Spangled Comics #7, produced by Kirby in conjunction with his then-partner Joe Simon (in a story which was reprinted in Jimmy Olsen #141 when DC switched to a 25¢ cover price and added reprints to fill the extra pages). On [left] Young fan Barry Alfonso with Kirby, circa 1971, and his debut as Barriboy from Jimmy Olsen #144. [top] Superman’s finally about to visit New Genesis (if he can get past Magnar) in Jimmy Olsen #147, the penultimate issue.

its cover, the flashy hero The Guardian got second billing to a ragtag gang of kids from Suicide Slum. Inside, his alter ego Jim Harper (a rookie beat cop) was beaten himself by a pack of thugs, then donned a blue and yellow costume, crash helmet, and police badge-shaped shield to exact revenge—becoming the “guardian of society” he couldn’t be while working within the law. His moniker attained double-meaning when a gang of young newspaper peddlers (all orphans of deceased parents) turned to robbing a hardware store to put food on the table. Officer Harper was assigned to be their legal guardian, but the kids resisted his Big Brother treatment, and started stealing hubcaps. When their Fence set them up as a diversion for a fatal hold-up, the boys began to appreciate Jim’s law and order stance, and got imperiled trying to even the score with the crook. The Guardian saved the boys, who later returned the favor as their first episode ended with them suspecting Harper and the Guardian might be one and the same—a subplot that would run through most of their Golden Age adventures (and which Kirby finally resolved late in his 1970s run on the Jimmy Olsen book). When Kirby brought them back in Olsen, he gave the team a high-tech flying Whiz Wagon [shown above in a full-color collage used in #134], to get them beyond slum adventures and into the great unknown of his imagination. African-American character Flippa Dippa was a new addition to the Newsboy Legion, meant to add some racial diversity to the book. His origins appear to stem from actor Cleavon Little’s portrayal of the title character in Bruce Jay Friedman’s play Scuba Duba, which Kirby would’ve seen documented in the November 17, 1967 issue of LIFE magazine. In spite of the comic-relief intent of a character who perpetually wears scuba gear, at the first sign of danger in Jimmy Olsen #133, Jack had Flippa charge right in and save the entire group, showing he was more than a token member of the team. By the end of the series, Flippa-Dippa was routinely just called the more respectful “Flip.”

[left] The entire Newsboy Legion, plus an unaltered Jimmy Olsen face, from issue #137. [Clockwise from top: Gabby, Jimmy, Big Words, Scrapper, Tommy, and Flip.] [below] Cleavon Little as Scuba Duba, the reallife inspiration for Flippa Dippa.

While Gabby looked much like he did in the 1940s—just augmented through Jack’s art style that’d evolved over 30 years—there has been speculation that Kirby (consciously or not) interspersed elements of then US President Richard Nixon’s likeness into his facial features in the 1970s. (Kirby was an outspoken critic of Nixon.) Scrapper, much as in his 1940s incarnation, can be seen as a young Kirby himself—a tough, streetwise New York teenager. Tommy and Big Words, also much like their 1940s renditions, tended to have the least interesting and defined personalities, while Jimmy Olsen—as star of the comic—took the lead. In Jack’s 1970s series, a new Guardian, cloned from cells from the deceased 1940s character after he was murdered by gangsters,

[above] A young, street-smart Jack at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York, age 22. [right] Kirby knew gangsters, and while launching the Fourth World, he successfully pitched In The Days Of The Mob to DC, using this presentation mock-up.

was released to save the day when Superman failed against a giant clone of Jimmy Olsen [left]. It was an obvious next step to reveal the new Newsboy Legion were actually clones of their Golden Age counterparts; exact doppelgängers, just like the Guardian. Kirby never got to it, but that fact that the original 1940s Newsboys were now adults, working together at a facility that specialized in cloning, implied that they were more than typical “fathers” of these new newskids on the block. THE PROJECT & THE EVIL FACTORY Kirby wrote and drew a story titled “The Cadmus Seed” in 1957’s Alarming Tales #1 for Harvey Comics. In it, a scientist developed a way to create new life, using seeds that grew into humans. That earlier adventure may well have been a springboard for Jimmy Olsen’s The Project, the top secret US government facility experimenting with creating new life through DNA experimentation and cloning—well before Dolly the sheep became the first mammal cloned in real life in 1996. In Jack’s Olsen comic, the US government shared knowledge of that secret facility with Superman, who then revealed it to Jimmy and the Newsboy Legion, thus setting up a series of adventures in Kirby’s early Olsen run. Several cloned products of The Project were revealed throughout the series. Dubbilex [top right], named after the double helix structure of DNA, was developed by using, presumably, unknown alien cells, making him the first “DNAlien.” He gradually developed ESP and other kinesis powers across his few appearances, but faded into the background before his potential was realized. Arin the Armored Man (possibly named after the biblical figure Aaron, who helped Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt) only appeared in a two-page back-up story in Jimmy Olsen #146 [above]. He was bred to roam outer space carrying samples of Superman’s DNA, to keep it safe from unscrupulous hands—leaving a great potential plot for a future story. And Kirby managed to sneak in a 1930s gangster—one of his favorite tropes, which he knew well from his New York adolescence—in the back-up story in Jimmy Olsen #148, proving that even someone as crooked as “Bullets” Barstow could be rehabilitated as a clone [above]. The villainous Darkseid created his own rival “Project” dubbed “The Evil Factory,” which had two henchmen [right]—Simyan (named for Simeon of the Old Testament, or “simian” for his ape-like appearance) and Mokkari (from Mercury, or “mockery)—running it. It was never clear if they survived its eventual destruction caused by the genetically-altered neanderthal Jimmy Olsen they created near the end of Kirby’s run. THE HAIRIES & THE OUTSIDERS Much like in Marlon Brando’s 1953 film The Wild One (which Kirby likely saw), in real life, a motorcycle gang had been terrorizing the canyon where Kirby initially lived after relocating from New York to California in 1969—to the point that the Kirbys had to move to get away from the racket their bikes caused, which distracted Jack from his work. They became the springboard for the Outsiders gang that populated his first Jimmy Olsen issue, riding their high[top] Comics great Joe Kubert, upon seeing the amazing pencils for this Guardian debut page in Jimmy Olsen #135, was tempted to ink it himself, but chose not to, lest the issue suffer from too many inking styles. [above and right] Note the identical way Kirby depicted a view through a microscope, in 1957’s Alarming Tales #1 and 1971’s Jimmy Olsen #135—both stories about developing human life in a laboratory.

tech motorcycles on the Zoomway through the Wild Area. That Zoomway was also home to the Mountain of Judgment, a giant semi-recreational vehicle that housed a mobile society of long-haired superscientists dubbed The Hairies. The name of their leader, Jude, owed a debt to the Beatles tune Hey Jude, which was the #1 song in America for nine weeks after its release on August 26, 1968. The Wild Area was home to a dropout society that lived in a stacked housing commune named Habitat [right]—undoubtedly inspired by Habitat 67 [above], a 1967 experimental community designed by architect Moshe Safdie, and displayed as a pavilion at Canada’s 1967 World’s Fair, held in Montreal, Quebec. MORGAN EDGE & INTER-GANG Having grown up surrounded by mobsters on the streets of New York’s Lower East Side in the 1920s and 1930s, it’s not surprising Kirby would incorporate a super-Mafia into his series, in the form of Inter-Gang, which was first mentioned in Jimmy Olsen. The criminal organization—a recurring menace throughout the early Fourth World books—was secretly run by Morgan Edge, the head of Galaxy Broadcasting (which purchased the Daily Planet newspaper where Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen worked). The look of Morgan Edge was based on actor Kevin McCarthy [above, of Invasion of the Body Snatchers fame]. His personality came from James T. Aubrey, Jr. [left], who brought many well-loved television series like the Andy Griffith Show and Beverly Hillbillies to CBS in the 1960s, but won few friends with his abrasive manner. Actor John Houseman dubbed him the “smiling cobra,” a nickname Kirby used for Edge in Jimmy Olsen #138 [left].

Jimmy Olsen #134 gave us our first published appearance of Darkseid, in a one-panel communication with Edge, confirming Inter-Gang was working for the main villain of the series. But Edge would be further developed in the non-Kirby Lois Lane series. LOIS LANE While the Jimmy Olsen book became a wellspring of inventiveness and creativity once Jack took it over, another strip, Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane, took an intriguing leap ahead in its storylines as well. Lois became a semi-integral part of the Fourth World, or at least its connection to humans on Earth—but without Kirby’s direct involvement. (Jack’s only published drawings of Lois Lane were on Mattel card game illustrations produced during that time.) Instead, the Fourth World influence was brought in by continuity stickler E. Nelson Bridwell [below], who was a junior editor in the DC Comics offices in New York. It would only make sense that Lois, working at the Daily Planet with Jimmy Olsen and Clark Kent, would be affected by all the changes brought about when Morgan Edge took over the company.

“Jack intended Morgan Edge to be a bad guy. He wanted to explore the theme of organized crime gaining a foothold in corporate America—particularly a giant media conglomerate. Given the shady background of the company that acquired Warner Brothers and DC, it was something of an inside joke, but obviously, they couldn’t tolerate it… the decision was made in New York to convert Edge to a non-Mafioso.” Mark Evanier at the Kirby Tribute panel, held at Comic Con International: San Diego on July 19, 1997

In an interesting possible connection, actor Kevin McCarthy played General “Happy” Jack Kirby in the 1963 film A Gathering of Eagles. Could our Jack Kirby have used McCarthy’s visage for Morgan Edge because of that, or was it just coincidence? “As far as I know, that’s a coincidence, and you’re right... it’s a doozy… I believe Kevin McCarthy stuck in his brain after the movie you mention, but who knows? Jack’s mind always made odd connections, often without him being aware of them.”

“Nelson Bridwell… was one of the few there who really appreciated what Kirby could bring to the company and was, sadly, utterly powerless. He once told me his take. It was that DC Management was

Mark Evanier, Jack F.A.Q.s column, Jack Kirby Collector #44, Fall 2005

hoping that the presence of Kirby would lure Marvel readers over... and while they were sampling Jack’s books, they would also discover how wonderful Detective Comics and The Flash and House of Mystery were. That didn’t happen.”

“When Jack introduced Morgan Edge, he intended there to be one and only one Morgan Edge, and for him to be a bad guy… I don’t know for a fact that Jack didn’t suggest the Evil Factory twin explanation but, if he did, it was because DC was insisting on the change in Mr. Edge. It may or may not have been Jack’s idea. I vaguely recall that Nelson Bridwell came up with the storyline that would convert Edge, which is why it was done in the book he edited, Lois Lane. But I’m not completely certain on this one.”

Mark Evanier, Jack F.A.Q.s column, Jack Kirby Collector #62, Winter 2013

The Lois Lane connection really started in her issue #111 (July 1971), where miniature clones of the Justice League of America, produced in Darkseid’s Evil Factory, made her life difficult. Soon, the Lois Lane comic introduced a recurring plot thread which was never explicitly referenced by Jack in Jimmy Olsen. In #118 (January 1972), we learn that not only was the “Smiling Cobra” an evil clone,

Mark Evanier at the Kirby Tribute panel, held at Comic Con International: San Diego on July 19, 1997

but the actual Morgan Edge was being held prisoner by his duplicate behind two-way glass in his penthouse apartment. The “real” Edge even managed to escape at one point, but everyone thought he’d suffered a mental breakdown when he spilled the beans about his clone, and he was recaptured before anyone figured out what was going on. He eventually slipped away again in Lois Lane #119 (February 1972) by hooking-up with Yango of Jimmy Olsen’s Outsiders biker gang, and hid out in the Habitat commune. All in all, it made reading Lois Lane a lot more interesting for a couple of years (Simyan and Mokkari, as well as The Black Racer, Desaad, and even Darkseid himself made nonKirby appearances in Lois Lane), to the point that I always wondered if Jack might’ve had a hand in coming up with the Edge clone subplot.

The Vince Colletta inking on these non-Kirby tales helped make Lois Lane’s stories look less out of place in the scheme of things, since they bore some visual similarity to Kirby’s own early Fourth World stories which Colletta was also inking. And so, in an odd way, did DC’s practice of always replacing the Superman heads in Jimmy Olsen with ones drawn by Al Plastino or Murphy Anderson—they did the same here in Lois Lane. [this page] Kirby’s Fourth World characters appeared in numerous Lois Lane issues (#111, 115, 116, 118, and 119), drawn by Werner Roth, and inked by Vince Colletta. [center] An unused Kirby/Royer piece done for the 1971 Mattel card game [left], featuring Lois and Jimmy, and with Superman’s head redrawn by Murphy Anderson.

[above] Thanks to Colletta’s inking, the version of Darkseid in Lois Lane wasn’t far off from Kirby’s own rendition.

get a job as a ditch digger. I’d like to do that for about six months just to harden up. Maybe get down there and begin using the muscles. I’ll rotate with a guy.’ You find a ditch digger who’s just about had it. Some intelligent guy, and maybe he can handle your job. And you say, ‘How about trading, just for awhile?’ You never know what the hell strikes you. You never know what you might like to do.” Jack Kirby interviewed for Train Of Thought #6, 1971

The New Gods comics gave us our most vivid look at daily life on New Genesis, other than Superman’s short visit there in Jimmy Olsen #147. APOKOLIPS Apokolips, by contrast, was dotted with raging fire pits, and it contained separate slum areas named Grayborders, Night-Time, Longshadow, and Armagetto— the latter of which was where it was prophesied that a “Last Battle” between Father and Son would decide the war with New Genesis. It was protected by flying Para-demons, which pushed back any invaders. The Mister Miracle series gave us a well-defined, up-close look at the bleak way of life on Apokolips. Orion visited the planet briefly in New Gods #1 for a necessary introductory passage to set up the series, and the only other depiction was when we got the slightest glimpse of it from a distance in Jimmy Olsen #141.

NEW GODS: The Deities “To put it short, the gods are giant reflections of ourselves. They are ourselves as we think we should be or we think we might be. They are idealistic and dramatic versions. They make a lot more noise than we do and therefore attract a lot more attention than we do. We feel that we’ve been fulfilled in some way if our own images act out the fantasies that we entertain.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Peter Kuper in 1972, published in G.A.S.Lite, The Official Magazine of the Cleveland Graphic Arts Society Vol. 2, #10, 1973

HIGHFATHER “There are people like Highfather who are playing everybody else’s game and suddenly realize that they haven’t been playing theirs. He solved his problem by saying, ‘This is what I am. I’m always going to be this way.’”

After almost a decade of storytelling on Asgard with Thor, Kirby finally took readers two steps ahead, to the aftermath of Ragnarok—the twilight of the gods he couldn’t produce at Marvel Comics. In New Gods #7, it was made clear that New Genesis was formed by the living atoms of the Norse god Balder (Balduur), and Apokolips evolved from those of a cunning, evil sorceress (obviously Karnilla, who was in love with Balduur in mythology).

Jack Kirby interviewed by Ken Viola, for the Masters of Comic Book Art video (1987)

Alternately spelled both with and without a hyphen, Highfather was the moral authority of the Fourth World, and the leader of New Genesis (I hesitate to use the word “ruler,” as he was more an advisor and mentor to the planet’s citizens than any kind of enforcer). As depicted in New Gods #7, he was once a fierce warrior during the “Great Clash” between New Genesis and Apokolips, but saw the long-term effects of his violent ways and turned his back on them, instead embracing peace, and receiving a direct connection to The Source in return. That mimicked Kirby’s own turnabout following his rough and tumble upbringing and service in World War II, and his 1945 return stateside to a family life of relative tranquility [right]. Highfather served as a rabbi in the series, mentored the young, and even offered advice to Superman when he finally visited Supertown.

NEW GENESIS While both good and evil characters in the series were technically “new gods,” the default setting for most readers was that “the” New Gods were the ones that lived in peace and harmony on New Genesis. It was a serene planet with a giant floating city hovering above it, nicknamed Supertown by its youngest inhabitants. It was patrolled by flying Monitors who screened all new arrivals on the planet to keep the peace. “I feel that New Genesis is no more an idealistic place than it is a place where a guy can say, ‘Well, I think I’ll grow a mustache’ or ‘I think I’ll wear yellow pants today’ or ‘Gee, I’m going to put on a cowboy hat. How about that?’ And everybody’ll say, ‘Well, okay.’ That’s all. And you should have the opportunity to say, ‘You know what I think I’m doing? I going to take eight months off to write a play.’ You should be able to do that. That’s New Genesis to me. And you could be an executive making $50,000 a year and you could say, ‘You know what I’m going to do? I’ve been sitting behind the desk getting flabby. I’m going to go out and

DARKSEID “In the New Gods, the core of that story was that a father would never hurt his own son. Now here I have Darkseid, the most evil character ever created… he was the epitome of all evil. All [he] wanted to 56

“Darkseid considers anything evil that’s going to stop him. If you stop me, I consider you evil.” Jack Kirby interviewed for Train Of Thought #5, 1971

Let me make this clear: Kirby intended Darkseid to be pronounced “Dark-Side,” as in “the dark side of the moon.” It must’ve been some small irritation to Jack when fans would call him “DarkSeed” (to the point he playfully inserted the rhyming name “SharkSeed” for a creature working for the Deep Six in New Gods #5). Spelling it with the Germanic “eid” instead of the Anglo “ide” was a tip-off that Jack viewed him equivalent in evil to Adolph Hitler—and Jack had personally given up years of his life to military service, because of Hitler’s desire to subjugate others. So were projections from real life why he ended up creating such a great villain? “Yeah, I think so. I was at that point kind of a Watergate junkie, a Nixon scholar. We spent all our time talking about Nixon [right], whom Jack disliked intensely. I believe that based on our discussions about Nixon, a few of Nixon’s quirks and habits and attitudes found their way into Darkseid—as did everybody Jack had ever met in his life who was dedicated to the prospect of stepping over other people to get what they wanted, as an act of ultimate cowardice. Trying to conquer someone is an act of cowardice, you’re trying to control them so they won’t hurt you. Darkseid was ultimately the #1 coward in the world. He was trying to conquer the universe so the universe couldn’t hurt him. If in a given week Jack was outraged

do was to own everybody’s mind and completely run the universe by himself. You can’t get more affectatious than that. But he couldn’t control his own son—and of course, his own son became his worst enemy. There was nothing he could do about it. He was continually frustrated… Orion will try to stop him, but Orion is his son. That’s one of the truths that I always knew existed, a father will never hurt his own son. So that was the core of the New Gods…”. Jack Kirby interviewed by J. Michael Straczynski and Larry DiTillio on the April 13, 1990 episode of Mike Hodel’s Hour 25 radio show

The central figure of the Fourth World was its overarching villain, Darkseid—the ruler of Apokolips, the glue that held the series together, and the character whose motivations Kirby appeared to have put the most thought into. He was inarguably Kirby’s greatest villainous creation. “What Darkseid stands for is what I’ve been fighting all my life. I always wanted to be left alone. A Darkseid won’t leave you alone. A Darkseid wants what you’ve got, just because you’ve got it. He doesn’t know any way to live except to get as much as he can.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Mark Evanier and Marv Wolfman in 1986, published in Amazing Heroes #100, August 1986

[left] “The Great Clash” saw untold destruction and casualties to the “new” gods, until Highfather found his way to the Source. [top] Compare Kirby’s raw pencil work, to Vince Colletta’s soft finishes in New Gods #4 [right].

His motivations were at the same time, both simple and complex. In a telling sequence [left and below], Darkseid didn’t actually kill the Forever People when we finally saw him use his Omega Effect (dubbed the “Ultimate Wipe-Out”); he spared them, and later made proclamations about how there’s no honor in killing children. “Greatness does not come from killing the young! I’m willing to wait until they grow!” Darkseid from Forever People #8

Kirby once elaborated on his view of Darkseid, as opposed to more run-of-the-mill villains, both in comics and real life. “Some of the most virtuous men are murderers by the fact that they stick to their own principles. Hitler [right] was a virtuous man in the context of his own principles. He initiated a pretty dirty hour as far as humanity was concerned, but the idea is that he did it for his own reasons. They were mad reasons, but he felt that he was sticking to his principles. So even an insane man may have an insane code of ethics. Some people will kill for second-rate reasons and that makes their act even more monstrous. The fact that a man will kill for a little money or kill for unnecessary reasons as the thrill of it might be looked down upon by a professional killer. He wouldn’t kill for a few dollars or for the thrill of it. The professional murderer would kill for good money and good reasons and he would consider himself a craftsman. As Darkseid does. Darkseid is very evil. He’s the equivalent of a mass murderer, but he wouldn’t waste his super-powers on just one individual. He wouldn’t go out of his way just to kill one man; it would be ridiculous. He wouldn’t do it. He’d just walk away. That’s how my villains think. “[Darkseid’s] not the most powerful, but he’s the most relentless. In other words, Darkseid is strictly a first-rater. I don’t classify gods as far as their power goes. I classify them as far as their personality goes. Each god, if he used his power right, could defeat another god. If I used my power right I could defeat anyone on Earth if I wanted to. As a man, if I used my physical strength at its best, I could overpower anybody I wanted to, if I did it right. It’s the same way with the gods. If they used their super-powers right, they could defeat any other god. Darkseid is no different except that Darkseid is an evil guy with a lot of class. He’s the kind of guy that might outthink you, and with

at some South American dictator he saw on the news, that South American dictator was Darkseid. And if Jack was angered at somebody in the comic book business who had knifed someone else in the back, the knifer was Darkseid. Jack’s such a giving man, a generous man, such a selfless person who never stood on the ceremony of complaining that a convention had not put his name large enough or whatever. He never cared about those things. And I always felt Darkseid was the flip-side of Kirby. He was the Anti-Kirby. Darkseid was against everything Jack stood for in his life, and the various heroes who opposed Darkseid were all different facets of Jack’s personality.” Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

Here was the ultimate villain, channeled only through Kirby’s creative prism, with no input from Stan Lee or anyone else. His closest predecessor was Dr. Doom in Fantastic Four, whose characterization started developing toward a more fully-rounded evil personality, just prior to Kirby leaving Marvel Comics in 1970. While Lee fed off Kirby’s margin notes and plots when dialoguing Doom’s motivations, Jack was able to portray Darkseid’s villainy unfettered by any restraints. He was multi-dimensional in a way no prior villain ever was. But even as monumental and imposing a figure as Darkseid had a basis in humanity, if only in his visual inspiration. “Jack saw Jack Palance [left] as Darkseid... He thought he had a great face.” Steve Sherman interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow

[right] Darkseid’s dreaded Omega Effect in Forever People #6 had a precursor in the Mandarin’s blast from Amazing Adventures #4, produced by Kirby just prior to leaving Marvel Comics for DC.

super-powers involved, it could be in a very dangerous and earthshaking way.”

The crux of his adversarial relationship with Darkseid—and of the entire New Gods series—rested with their father/son dynamic.

Jack Kirby interviewed for Train Of Thought #5, 1971

He also shunned his lackey Desaad’s torture techniques, which Desaad took note of in curiosity. And as Kirby often indicated, Darkseid didn’t have the stomach to kill his son Orion (and even obliterated Desaad for trying to), in a move that played out much later in Kirby’s Hunger Dogs graphic novel.

“What made Orion and Darkseid such deadly enemies was because it was a natural relationship. There were father and son, pitted against each other. One may even love the other. And yet they had to fight because it was a natural relationship, and there was an enmity there which had to be resolved. In other words, the son had to transcend the father. I believe that’s natural. If the son cannot transcend the father, he’ll die in frustration. And, therefore, to survive, he’d have to beat the father. I believe that kind of feeling extended from the caves, and I believe that many a father ended up with a dented skull, which was given to him by members of his own family.”

“Well, the point is that the story has to be larger-than-life to reach out to the reader. In other words, between the monster and the angel you are going to find combinations; and these combinations may reflect things in real life, real situations, and real people. That’s what makes a story interesting. When I did the New Gods, that’s the track I took. I had developed a story of extremes—extreme personalities, extreme situations, extreme relationships. The real elements were found deep in the personalities of each character and how they related to each other.”

Jack Kirby interviewed by Ronald Levitt Lanyi in 1983, published in Jack Kirby Collector #44

“New Gods was a battle between father and son. It is classic! Show me the son that doesn’t defy the father! ...Both father and son will not Orion debuts in New Gods #1. accept the final confrontation. A son in the end Jack Kirby interviewed by Ray Wyman in August 1989, October will never hurt his father—that’s my personal belief—and a father will 1989, and June 1992 never hurt his son. I know that I never will. My son can do anything to me that he damn pleases. It’s just the way I feel. I can’t hurt my own flesh ORION and blood. I feel that even villains… they have to contend with that.” “Orion is you. Orion is people who are not good, who are not evil, Jack Kirby interviewed by Rand Hoppe and Andrew Mayer on August 14, 1992 but have the potential for both and when they exercise both, they get a reaction and have to take the risks for what they do or say. Orion does, too. He is tormented by his own potential for savagery, by his own potential for goodness.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Peter Kuper in 1972, published in G.A.S.Lite, The Official Magazine of the Cleveland Graphic Arts Society Vol. 2, #10, 1973

The counterpoint to Darkseid’s villainy was Orion, who yielded the never-explained Astro Force, which he channeled through his Astro-Harness (originally dubbed Power Rods) to fly. Astronomers know that in the night sky, the constellation Orion the Hunter is discernible by its three connecting stars that make up Orion’s Belt. The constellation Canus Major follows Orion and contains the sky’s brightest star Sirius—called the Dog Star. Kirby, in an apparent mash-up of these astronomical phenomena, chose to give his Orion a battle helmet with not only a starburst symbol above the eyes, but also dog-like ears, symbolic of a Dog of War from Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar (which, you’ll recall, he designed costumes for back in 1969). Born on Apokolips but raised on New Genesis—son of Tigra and (unknowingly) Darkseid—Orion was a study in contrasts. “Orion is a real person. Orion is a fearful god because he is afraid of himself. He wasn’t born on New Genesis. Orion is a very fierce god because he has an inner hostility. He fights himself constantly because he knows that he’s not from New Genesis and that he’s capable of tremendous evil.” Jack Kirby interviewed for Train Of Thought #5, 1971

“In analyzing Orion, who is a murderer caught up among people who love him, on a planet where everyone was friends, he couldn’t give way to his own instincts. He was frustrated. He used to sit and commiserate with his own thoughts in some kind of cave on New Genesis. Here was a man who wanted to love and hate at the same time, and couldn’t do either. I knew who that kind of man was... Orion was saying, ‘Relieve me of this frustration!’” Jack Kirby interviewed by Ken Viola, for the Masters of Comic Book Art video (1987)

Half-siblings Orion and Kalibak fight it out in this 1978 Kirby drawing.

To a lesser extent, sibling rivalry came into play for Orion. Although gentle Lightray was more of a true brother to him, Orion proclaimed to his (at that point unbeknown to Orion) half-brother Kalibak in New Gods #8 that, “We fought when young… there’s something we share that’s always driven us to each other.” In that same issue, the two engaged in the most massive battle scene Kirby ever depicted, and the family feud reached a final climax in #11, Kirby’s final issue. “To a certain extent, Orion represented the fact that Jack had to deal with these people to feed his family. You can’t avoid the Darkseids of this world, they’re there and you have to deal with them. And sometimes to deal with them, you have to play their game, you have to be as ruthless as they are. Jack was not proud of everything he’d ever done in his life from an ethical standpoint, but he did what he had to to make a living and to feed his family. Sometimes when you’re dealing with evils, you have to pick the lesser of the evils and live with it.” Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

Kirby’s decision to name his character Orion may’ve stemmed from a US government project for a planned long range starship, which would’ve been propelled by setting off atomic bombs behind it in orbit. In a reaction to Russia’s successful launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite on October 4, 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, forming NASA. Project Orion was in development at NASA until 1964, before being cancelled due to concerns over radioactive fallout from its propulsion system. Kirby’s own fascination with science-fiction, as well as his involvement with his 1958-1961 space race newspaper strip Sky Masters of the Space Force, would seem to be a logical connection, and Kirby was involved in extensive research about the US space program for Sky Masters, and apparently as late as 1967.

LIGHTRAY With dour Orion being the antagonist of The New Gods, it made sense for Kirby to pair him with a light-hearted counterpart. As Kirby stated in 1973, Lightray was pure virtue, contrasting Orion’s pure destruction. It made for sort of a cosmic version of the Buddy Film trope, using their different personalities to spark reader interest. A curious visual tie exists between Lightray and Mark Moonrider of the Forever People. Uncharacteristically for Jack— he was known for his unique costuming—both sport the same headgear, making me wonder if they were intended to be related.

“The FBI checked me out, and I was supposed to train with Alan Shepard at Wright Field.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Greg Theakston circa 1980 for the Jack Kirby Treasury Vol. 2

“NASA phoned me and asked me to draw the astronauts when they were training for the moonshot… I was going to train with Neil Armstrong.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Paul Duncan in 1990 for Ark #33

Jack also used the name “Orion” prior to the Fourth World, in Marvel’s Tales to Astonish #81 in 1966—a story Kirby both plotted and laid out. It featured the debut of the villain Boomerang (a character documented as being designed by Kirby), who was trying to steal an Orion Missile.

ANTI-LIFE To demonstrate how expansively Kirby thought, consider the Anti-Life Equation. Not content with simple world domination by military force, Darkseid’s ultimate goal was to obtain the Equation, and gain control over the minds of every creature in the universe. The New Gods’ objective was to stop him. These clear, simple battle lines were what kept the Fourth World’s narrative focused, despite Kirby veering off toward so many wild concepts and unique characters along the way. “The idea of the Anti-Life Equation is that all Darkseid has to do is say a word and you become a slave… Earth becomes a testing ground. This is where we have thinking animals, and there’s the principle of Anti-Life. If someone took control of your mind and you were not able to think as yourself any longer, you would no longer be yourself. You’d be something in his command. You as an individual would be dead.

[top] An artist’s rendering of what NASA’s proposed Orion missile would’ve looked like. Kirby had studied the US space program to prepare for his late 1950s newspaper strip Sky Masters of the Space Force, as the space race against Russia captured the imagination of the American public. Above is an example of Kirby’s detailed work for the January 16, 1959 strip, inked by Wally Wood. [top right] Lightray sketch, circa 1973.

shakes up everything. He shakes up cities and creates all kinds of plots.” Jack Kirby interviewed for Train Of Thought #5, 1971

Did Kirby plan out ahead of time what the AntiLife Equation would actually end up being? “Oh yes. You see, I had to understand my villain’s ambition. Now here I had the ultimate villain. I had Darkseid. This is a parable on modern society. We’ll probably never get to see Darkseid. Here is a power... great but greedy and villainous power with no opposition. Can you imagine the kind of ambition he might have? Here is a guy who is close to getting it all... and he wants it all. Here is a guy who can say, ‘I’ll shut down this damn universe at my own command!’ And he dreamed of doing that.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Mark Evanier and Marv Wolfman in 1986, published in Amazing Heroes #100, August 1986

The Equation was initially referenced in Forever People #1, the first Fourth World story Kirby drew. But as enticing as it was to Darkseid, it would’ve ended up being a MacGuffin in the series. “The plan Jack had for the Anti-Life Equation was that it didn’t exist, at least not in the form Darkseid believed. Darkseid was chasing something he could never have. Whereas Darkseid perceived it as a weapon, it was a spiritual goodness that exists in every religion and every people. It’s the concept that guides the Golden Rule, that underscores the Ten Commandments, it’s the concept that underscores the basis of man’s humanity to man. And it’s something which, if Darkseid got his hands on it, he’d have a very powerful concept in his hands, but nothing he could ever use for conquest. I envisioned, or maybe Jack told me this, a scene with Darkseid finally realizing what the Anti-Life Equation is and screaming, ‘I can’t use this! This is of no use to me!’ And he’d killed hundreds of thousand of soldiers, and spent billions of dollars to get his hands on the ultimate weapon, and he discovered the ultimate weapon was, ‘Thou shalt not conquer.’”

That’s Anti-Life. In other words, if you gave yourself to some cause, and gave up everything as an individual and you were at the beck and call of some leader, you would be dead as an individual. And that’s what Darkseid wants. He wants control of everybody. If it was snowing outside and you weren’t wearing any shoes and it was 38 degrees below zero and this guy says, ‘Go out and get me a bologna sandwich,’ you have to go through all that; you obey him automatically, you obey him meekly. You walk out without a coat and you freeze to death. He doesn’t care. You do it anyway despite the fact that you don’t want to do it. You’re dead as an individual. You have no choice. You can’t object and you have no stature as a person. You’re dead. A slave is a dead man. That’s what Darkseid wants. Darkseid wants complete subjugation of everything at a word—his word. He wants every thinking thing under his control. “I believe it’s an evil concept but he doesn’t think so—not if he’s Darkseid. If you had the power you might not dislike the idea. Everybody sees the world from where they sit. It may be uncomfortable for the next guy but you think it’s great. The right idea to Darkseid is anything that benefits him. He isn’t going to worry about you. He sees the world from where he sits, and of course what he sees is big. He’s a big man. Darkseid is a tremendous, powerful, evil figure, and he’s going to see everything in a cosmic view. He’s not going to see a view of the candy store around the corner or what’s playing at the Palladium next week. Darkseid is going to see everything in an overpowering cosmic view, and of course what else would he want but complete subjugation of everything? Earth is included in that everything, and my concept is that somewhere on Earth is someone who can solve the Anti-Life Equation, and Darkseid is after that poor soul. He

Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

Still, a number of people were able to wield “The Power” during Jack’s run, or at least had direct involvement with it. In Forever People #1 [below], it was explained that Beautiful Dreamer’s mind was capable of fathoming the Equation. While evangelist Glorious Godfrey [above] preached the basic principle of Anti-Life on behalf of Darkseid, the only actual use of the Equation appeared in Forever People. In issue #5, Sonny Sumo

wielded it (only with the help of Mother Box); but Darkseid inexplicably transported him back to ancient Japan, rather than capturing him to harvest it. Also, in issue #8, it’s used full-on by Billion Dollar Bates, and Darkseid had to hatch a surreptitious scheme to acquire it without falling victim to its power himself. But as always, he was thwarted in his plan to acquire it, just as Jack intended all along. Curiously, in New Gods #1, Darkseid was probing the minds of some test humans, looking for pieces of the Equation, and these humans would play an important role in the development of the New Gods series.

Claudia Shane (the eventual “O’Ryan’s Mob”) that Orion later rescued in New Gods #1 [below]. And the New Gods renditions had their brains probed in a very similar manner to their earlier kin (only that time by Darkseid, in search of the Anti-Life Equation). It’s easy to write that off as Kirby’s tendency to draw certain visual tropes for all his characters (such as the long-haired blond look that’s similar between Thor, Kamandi, and Captain Victory). But it’s not the only visual serendipity with Jack’s Marvel work; on the same page where those lookalike humans first appeared at DC (New Gods #1, page 18), there’s an uncanny similarity between Jack’s image of Darkseid, and his drawing of the High Evolutionary on the cover of Marvel’s Thor #134 from 1966. I’ll leave it to you to decide if that was too much of a coincidence to be one. “In… New Gods, he introduced those ordinary people who were tied somehow in to the Anti-Life Equation—Dave Lincoln, Victor Lanza, and so on. Then, when he drew the next issue, he completely forgot what he’d named them and gave them all different names. I think Steve Sherman caught it on some Xeroxes after the issue had been sent off to be lettered. We had to get on the phone to New York and have someone arrange to change the names.”

“Lincoln, Lanza and Company are not pawns of the gods. Instead, they are man’s sense of awareness of awesome and volatile forces around him. We bottle these forces and stack them in silos. We play with others, in order to define their full potential. We’re too sophisticated to be thoroughly cowed by the unknown. We’re too hip to employ any mythologic romanticism in our dealings with these forces. We’ll playfully label a destructive missile ‘Nike,’ but we sure as Hell won’t build a religion around it. However, the Biblicals did it. The Medievals did it. They wrapped up their view of the universe and its elements into a theological, nationalistic package and lived by it. And the gods are very real. They are the full totality of these forces.”

Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

THE SOURCE “The Source, like everything else, is an everyday fact… the Source… lives with us day by day. We don’t know what the Source is, where it is, we can’t identify its form, but we know it’s there. This thing, this tremendous thing, governs our lives, and somehow we can all feel it inside. It’s referred to as spiritual, it’s referred to in many other ways, but we know instinctively that it’s there. And that’s what I put down in my stories, because like everybody else, I’ve felt this thing and I felt that it was real and I’ve kept it with me all my life.”

Jack Kirby interviewed by Jonathan Bacon in Fall of 1973, published in Fantasy Crossroads #1, 1974

Jack Kirby interviewed by J. Michael Straczynski and Larry DiTillio on the April 13, 1990 episode of Mike Hodel’s Hour 25 radio show

Those humans tied to the Anti-Life Equation actually pre-existed in a sense—at Marvel Comics! In 1966’s Strange Tales #141-143 [above left], three of the four human “thinkers” rescued by Nick Fury from ESP experiments, were visually identical to Victor Lanza, Dave Lincoln, and

The spiritual center of the series was the invisible power of The Source. It was at the core of what every New God believed, felt, and experienced. It’s the ultimate mystery, to which all Mother Boxes were somehow linked. Highfather received spiritual guidance from the Source via a wall, complete with a flaming hand which wrote out prophetic messages. The Black Racer was its messenger of death, sent to retrieve those whose time had come. When gods died, they returned to the Source, and anyone who tried to preemptively penetrate the Final Barrier between existence and the Source, paid for their blasphemy by becoming a motionless giant, and spending eternity frozen alive in a Maximum State of semi-consciousness. “The Source, to me, is an unknown quantity. In this case, I act on the theory that whatever a man can conjure

[above] Was Kirby hinting that Darkseid was the next step in the evolution of villainy, after his High Evolutionary from Thor #134? This was literally on the same New Gods page as the above double-take from Strange Tales.

up in his own mind has the possibility of existence. Men have tried to find the Source in sticks and stones and fire and water and in other men. However, if you wish to see it in universal order, well, that’s great. All I ask is that you don’t proselytize until you can lay the meat on the table.”

Life-long hostages. And so this evil king gave this evil son to the virtuous king, and vice versa. And they have a problem immediately. There is this fella with an evil heritage who is raised in a virtuous atmosphere, and he doesn’t know what to do about it. But, he accepts these virtuous tenets, and of course he fights in their cause, but he fights as he is, see? Whereas, you have the good king’s son who is raised in a very military atmosphere, in a very, well, savage atmosphere, who grows up and instinctively can’t abide by these institutions, and so he escapes. And he escapes through what I called a ‘Boom Tube’; he escapes to Earth. And before he escapes, the evil king catches up with him and he says, ‘Well, you’re brave for doing this, but remember some of this bravery is mine.’ And he says, ‘Come back with me and I’ll destroy your character and make you over in my image.’ And he says, ‘I don’t want your character, I want to find myself. I want to be myself.’ And, of course, that’s an individual trait. We all want to be ourselves. There’s a real element in that kind of story. That’s part of the New Gods. Of course, I wasn’t preaching religion at anybody, I’m just preaching... I’m not even preaching. I’m just telling a story about how people feel. I felt as an individual that I couldn’t be part of a large organization. I had to do things for myself. I had to write stories that came from myself and nobody else. And so I became a writer/artist.”

Jack Kirby interviewed by Jonathan Bacon in Fall of 1973, published in Fantasy Crossroads #1, 1974

There’s been a lot of talk that a certain series of sci-fi films over the last fifty years owes a debt to Kirby’s concepts, and it’s true that Star Wars had some suspiciously close comparisons to the Fourth World: Darkseid to Darth Vader, Desaad to Emperor Palpatine, and Orion being revealed to be the son of Darkseid, while Luke Skywalker was the son of Vader, to name a few. If director George Lucas (a known fan of comic books and strips) did take inspiration from Jack, then Star Wars’ Force was undoubtedly based on Kirby’s Source. And a further hint can be found in the Fastbak back-up story in New Gods #5 [above], where it was said of Highfather’s Wonder Staff, which was attuned to the Source, “...there is nothing swifter than the invisible ‘Force’ of its summons”. Jack intentionally gave the word “Force” special emphasis by putting quotes around it, rather than leaving it as a nondescript noun—something which may’ve drawn the movie director’s attention as well. May the Source be with you.

Jack Kirby interviewed by Juanie Lane and Britt Wisenbaker, conducted on September 15, 1984 for the Pepperdine University student publications magazine Oasis

METRON & ESAK “If you think upon it, you’ll find that there’s never been an academic god, and yet we have him… I have a god called Metron... we have gods, our gods want to know everything… we live with a lot of questions. We have a few answers, but I believe we’re still in medieval times and that we have a lot more questions than answers. And so we have academic gods who are creating things that have never been done before, because they’re searching for the ultimate knowledge. And I think we are too... we’re searching for ultimate knowledge. Somewhere there’s an ultimate; and there may not be an ultimate. We just don’t know. And that’s the question. And so we have academic gods who produce bombs, produce chemicals. And of course they produce beneficial things. They’ll produce answers to our ailments. Answers to our mental ailments. And they’ll produce... they’re going out into the cosmos to find out what’s there. And we have more and more instruments available that we’re producing to answer a lot of those questions. So we have academic gods. We have people who are using instruments that are unavailable to us. And yet these are ordinary people, but they’re doing extraordinary things.”

THE PACT Due to the Pact between Apokolips and New Genesis, Darkseid and Highfather swapped their sons at a very young age (Scott Free as an infant, Orion as an adolescent) to secure peace after “The Great Clash” which threatened to end the New Gods, the way Ragnarok ended the old ones. It was a tradition with a long history behind it.

In Season 1, Episode 18 of the original Star Trek television series (“The Arena,” first airing on January 19, 1967), a highly advanced humanoid species dubbed the Metrons [right] intervened in Captain Kirk’s battle with the Gorn. Kirby, being a sci-fi buff, undoubtedly saw that episode, and used the name as an affectionate tribute to the show. But the dispassionate motivations of prior Kirby characters The Watcher and the Recorder at Marvel Comics helped shape the aloof personality of the Fourth World’s most mystifying character.

“Darkseid is an evil character; he governs an evil planet, and it was in his interests to stop a war with this virtuous planet, who had a virtuous king. So what they did was something that they used to do in medieval times. In order to stop this war, that they couldn’t stop any other way, the kings used to exchange sons, see, as hostages. [above] Pencils and published art from “The Pact” in New Gods #7. Kirby must’ve had this plot twist planned from the very beginning of his epic.

Jack Kirby interviewed by Juanie Lane and Britt Wisenbaker, conducted on September 15, 1984 for the Pepperdine University student publications magazine Oasis

Metron’s Mobius Chair also had a precursor in the 1957 Kirby story “Donnegan’s Daffy Chair” from Harvey Comics’ Alarming Tales #1 [above]. Its name came from the Mobius Strip (co-created by German mathematician August Ferdinand Möbius in 1858), an infinite loop that alluded to the concept of time travel.

FOREVER PEOPLE: The Angels

“To know Metron or Judas, I believe, is to know the measure of their desires. Judas, a simple guy, wanted only silver. Metron, a god with the potential of acquiring all the answers, was ego-stricken by the denial of any. Metron, like Darkseid and Orion, is a monumental image with monumental frustrations. He might pour the universe down a manhole for the correct solution to some mystery.”

“The Forever People were the wonderful people of the ’60s, who I loved. If you’ll watch the actions of the Forever People, you’ll see the reflection of the ’60s in their attitudes, in the backgrounds, in their clothes. You’ll see the ’60s. I felt I would leave a record of the ’60s in their adventures.”

Jack Kirby interviewed by Jonathan Bacon in Fall of 1973, published in Fantasy Crossroads #1, 1974

Jack Kirby interviewed by Leonard Pitts, Jr. circa 1986 for Conversations with the Comic Book Creators

Metron’s last major appearance in the Fourth World series was in the introduction to New Gods #5, where he was examining the Final Barrier that led to the Source. He appeared in flashbacks after that (most pivotally in Mister Miracle #9’s story “Himon”), then vanished until he cameoed at Mister Miracle #18’s wedding in 1973. He only reappeared again on the literal final page of Jack’s 1985 Hunger Dogs graphic novel.

Upon moving to Southern California in 1969, Kirby saw the Youth Culture up close. So it makes sense he would choose to draw Forever People #1 first, over New Gods or Mister Miracle. And what better showcase for the differences in generations, than a book about cosmic-powered teenage god-hippies confronting an ageless villain and his evil establishment? THE FOREVER PEOPLE “The Forever People, as I said before, is a reflection of our times like the New Gods. We live in a time where we have the bomb and the apocalypse all around us. Somebody is always talking about holocaust and about the whole thing blowing. Then we live in the kind of time where everybody says, ‘Well, that doesn’t have to happen. We’re gonna do great. We’re gonna take all of these things that we make for destruction and we’re going to do good things and build up some kind of universal brotherhood.’ Now that may happen too. I think that’s a good thought. I have these two worlds, Apokolips and New Genesis. There could be a New Genesis for all I know. That’s the way I see it. It’s heavy stuff of course, but I think it’s going to have to unravel to become the kind of thing it is. I’m going to have to unravel all the characters so that you really get to know them and know what their powers are. For instance this kid in a cowboy hat, Serifan, isn’t just a kid in a cowboy hat because it isn’t a cowboy hat. The others have other gimmicks. What I’ve done is come in with the whole ball of wax, plopped it down, and I’m going to ask everyone’s patience to allow me to unravel it.”

“Metron, to my mind, is an advance in mythology. We’ve never had a character like that before. He’s our will to know, our will to find out. If you look at high tech anywhere, you’ll see the reflection of Metron, and you know it’ll never stop, that curiosity will never stop. They’re working with computer chips and organic cells at this very moment. And where that will stop—I don’t know, but it’s an interesting question. What will the product be? Metron would like to know!” Jack Kirby interviewed by Ken Viola, for the Masters of Comic Book Art video (1987)

Esak was the only named child we encountered on New Genesis, and he seemed like a bit player in the original run of New Gods, just along for the ride on Metron’s Mobius Chair. But the Black Racer hinted at bigger plans for him in the larger picture of the Fourth World, when in the Fastbak back-up in Forever People #8, he proclaimed, “[Esak] was ever curious! As curious as Metron!” That would play out in 1985’s Hunger Dogs in a very unexpected way.

Jack Kirby interviewed for Train Of Thought #6, 1971

Kirby originally wanted the New Gods book to be titled Orion, and along that line of thinking, Forever People would’ve been called Darkseid. While the villain stayed mainly hidden on the sidelines in other books, he was front and center here, with his best character development and interactions of the entire oeuvre. That may’ve been on purpose, so that readers wouldn’t see Darkseid directly battle

[left] Highfather and Esak from Forever People #7.

(and repeatedly be thwarted by) Orion, Superman, or even Mister Miracle in other books, but could have direct confrontations here with the lesser threat posed by the New Genesis kids and their pacifistic ways. Even when they channeled the mega-powerful Infinity Man via their Mother Box to confront Darkseid, the Lord of Apokolips found a way to dispatch him without getting his hands dirty against a powerful opponent. Still, kicking off a new comic full of unproven characters with a guest appearance by an ultra-powerful Establishment figurehead like Superman (prior to drawing him in Kirby’s first Jimmy Olsen adventure) was a masterstroke of Generation Gap gestalt—and Superman and Darkseid managed to completely avoid duking it out in their one and only meeting under Kirby’s original tenure. Instead, the interplay between the Man of Steel and kids from Supertown (and Infinity Man) worked well, and Supes’ own conflict about finding others like himself and not fitting in on Earth, brought a new level of introspection and vulnerability that run-ofthe-mill Kryptonite stories hadn’t previously explored.

him keep track of continuity from issue to issue), Kirby had scribbled the words “Millennium People” as it popped into his head. That stat stayed in his files, so he may’ve either remembered the name, or come across it when the time came to title his new series. The name also may’ve been inspired by Dell’s late 1969 comic book The New People #1, based on a short-lived ABC television series that ran from September 1969 to January 1970. It featured a cover collage—a medium Jack first discovered when his own Young Romance #26 cover art (from 1950) was used by Richard Hamilton in a 1956 fine art collage titled “Just What Is It that Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing?” [above]. Kirby became a pioneer by using collages in his 1960s work at Marvel Comics, so likely would’ve taken notice of one from a rival publisher. The cover text reads: “ The New PEOPLE Teenagers… marooned FOREVER...”

“The Forever People... don’t call the things you see the same things that I do. In other words, I would say ‘great’ or ‘swell,’ and you guys would say ‘cool.’ It’s not ‘New Genesis’ to them, but ‘Supertown.’ That’s how they see it. There is, though, a lot more to it than that…” Jack Kirby interviewed by Mark Sigal, David Rubin, Paul Hock, and Marc Bigley on January 31, 1971 (November 1971 publication date) for Comic & Crypt #5

The name “Forever People” may’ve actually originated around 1964. On the reverse side of a photostat from Avengers #13 (sent to Jack at the time by Marvel, to help

[above] Was this “Flower Child,” circa 1969, Jack’s original idea for a female member of the Forever People? [right] The Forever People from the 1971 Kirby Unleashed portfolio. The original for this piece, inked by Royer, was part of a traveling museum display of comics art in the mid-1970s.

Young Donnie took a psychedelic trip in issue #2 [above], courtesy of Serifan’s cosmic cartridge (paralleling the drug use in Easy Rider), and the group formed its own communal living situation similar to what Jack would’ve seen on the big screen. Kirby, as usual, took the idea of a motorcycle and put it on steroids with the Super Cycle, while other vestiges of the film’s hippie costuming can be seen in elements of the Forever People themselves, as well as the wardrobe of the Wild Area inhabitants of Habitat in Jimmy Olsen, and the Young Gods of Supertown back-up stories [both shown at left]. With such a large group of new unknown characters, it was not surprising that the Forever People had the least developed personalities of any of Jack’s Fourth World population. In many ways, they were a mobile commune, so their “family unit” depended less on individuality, and more on group dynamics—most notably in their “Shazam!”-like merging into the Infinity Man. “The Forever People represented hope for the future, that the new generation would build a world without Darkseids, or at least try to.” Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

Kirby’s failings at being his own editor showed up clearly in Forever People. In early issues, the cowboy character was alternately named Serafin and Serifan before the latter was standardized on (probably with help on 66

This would fit with other instances we’ve seen, of Jack pulling out unrelated words and combining them to make something new. One influence that’s a lot clearer is the whole premise of the Forever People series finding its roots in the 1969 independent film Easy Rider, starring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Jack Nicholson [below]. Fonda’s character went by the nickname “Captain America,” which alone would’ve put that film on Jack’s radar, whether he actually saw it or not. It was the fourth highest grossing film in the US for 1969, and stood at the #1 slot for three weeks, so Jack undoubtedly at least saw images from it in the press (with Hopper’s ever-present cowboy hat and Fonda’s motorcycle helmet, inspiring headgear in the comic) and understood its themes of youth going on a motorcycle road trip (electron or otherwise) to “look for America.” Its presentation of prejudice against hippies— because they look different than members of the Establishment—was conveyed in Forever People #2, as old Uncle Willie pulled a gun on the group (in a direct correlation to the climax of the film), saying, “I may be getting old—but I know your types!”

considered a wizard by the Saxons, in a clever connection to Merlin—which may’ve in turn gotten the gears in his brain grinding for Merlin’s role in his future series The Demon. Vykin the Black was likely so-named as much for his skin color, as for a twist on Erik the Red, a Norwegian Viking explorer of much acclaim. Kirby was well versed in Norse mythology from his work on Marvel’s Thor comics (Erik the Red’s father, Thorvald Asvaldson, was named after the Thunder God), so the tie would’ve been there in Kirby’s mind. Jack was at the forefront of incorporating characters of color into comics during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, starting with Gabe Jones and Black Panther at Marvel. Vykin assumed a similar role as a prominent character, leading the charge into action and often saving his comrades. “The Black” was eventually removed from Vykin’s name, in a sign of more sensitivity, and less emphasis on his race. A Southern California vacation spot was the namesake for one Forever Person: Big Bear Lake is a popular scenic resort area that first became famous during California’s Gold Rush of 1849. Another’s name hit even closer to home.

consistency from assistants Evanier and Sherman), and the magic word they used to summon the Infinity Man ran the gamut from Taaruu! to Tarru!. (These gaffes paled in comparison to the most notorious editing error in the Fourth World—when Orion’s leg was trapped by a giant clam in New Gods #5 [above], sometimes his right leg was held fast by the mollusk, and other times his left, changing from panel to panel.) Whatever small mistakes crept in can be largely dismissed, when you look at the unbridled imagination Kirby put into Forever People. Consider his depiction of Happyland in issue #4. As you’d expect, Kirby, a newly transplanted resident of Southern California, visited Disneyland with his kids after moving there [below]. While the rest of his family was walking around enjoying the rides and attractions, Kirby was soaking up ideas for his comics. The germ of the idea for an evil “Kingdom of the Damned” theme park built by Desaad surely originated during one of those visits through the Magic Kingdom’s gates. The subsequent encounter between Mark Moonrider and Abraham Lincoln in issue #7 may’ve also sprung from Jack viewing the Disneyland attraction “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” [right] which was running at the theme park during the entire time Jack was producing DC’s Fourth World. That same issue of Forever People had Big Bear’s encounter during the era of Caesar’s reign, with the future King Arthur (here named Arta), as well as his eventual Knights of the Round Table, Lancelot (Lanslac) and Gawain (Gwane). Big Bear assisted Arta in assuming leadership by helping him pull a sword from a tree, in an effort that could’ve been inspired by Disney’s 1963 film The Sword in the Stone (but was more likely just Jack riffing on the Arthurian legends he no doubt knew well). Big Bear was

“In the case of Mark Moonrider, some people say Jack more or less based the character on me. He was going to just call the character Moonrider and I think he called him Mark by accident once, and the name stuck.” Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

Forever People was filled with remarkably exciting (and at times, extremely violent) battles for a magazine about a group of young, idealistic pacifists—and most of the action didn’t involve the five main characters. Walking that tightrope had to be no easy task for Kirby, known for his slam-bang, unbridled action yarns. “The Forever People are nonviolent. The Forever People are a challenge to comics, I feel, because although they’re engaged in violent activities, they never fight. The nearest they come to fighting is this fella, Big Bear, who is just so strong that he could lean against a pole and that’s it. The Forever People are a challenge to see how nonviolence can work in comics. I feel that nonviolence coupled with some kind of sustaining influence can work in comics. I don’t feel that you have to show blood and gore and guts. I think it’s repellent. I’ve seen enough of it in its reality, and it’s just as repellent when it’s drawn as in reality. I see nothing of any value in anything that has what you call shock value. I see nothing in that except using that sort of thing to prove a point. In other words, if you’re making an anti-war documentary or if you’re trying to tell the truth about a certain subject, and the blood and gore was a part of that subject, I wouldn’t omit it. If I were going to make an exposé on anything, I would show anything connected with it. For instance, in a gangster movie I would show the results of being a gangster—the life activities as well as the end and death. I would show exactly how it is they ended. I would show the bullet holes because it’s part of the picture, but I wouldn’t exploit it for its value alone. I see no entertainment in that sort of thing.” Jack Kirby interviewed for Train Of Thought #6, 1971

A pin-up in Forever People #3 hinted that Beautiful Dreamer was initially intended to play a more pivotal role than she did: 67

INFINITY MAN Other than his obvious similarities to the 1940s Captain Marvel (both were summoned by youngsters saying a magic word), we never learned much about this character. His orange pallor matched the skin of Asian character Sunny Sumo, implying Kirby may have viewed him as a sort of super-Samurai. According to www.britannica.com: “The ideal samurai was supposed to be a stoic warrior who followed an unwritten code of conduct, later formalized as Bushido, which held bravery, honor, and personal loyalty above life itself; ritual suicide by disembowelment (seppuku) was institutionalized as a respected alternative to dishonor or defeat.” Kirby was familiar with the code of Japanese soldiers from his World War II experiences, as evidenced by his use of the title “Bushido” for 1975’s Our Fighting Forces #154. Infinity Man’s armor and helmet also evoked that correlation to a Japanese warrior, but Jack never clearly defined an association between them. We got very few specifics when Kirby described him thus in a pin-up in Forever People #4 [top]:

But despite having been kidnapped in Forever People #1 by Darkseid because her mind could interpret the Anti-Life Equation, she developed into not much more than eye candy, mostly stepping aside to let the males in the group handle what little action there was that didn’t involve the Infinity Man. Kirby finally gave other members of the group more defined powers (Mark Moonrider acquired a Megaton Touch, Vykin a Sonic Hammer/ Magna Power), and Beautiful Dreamer received a more definite costume, in an apparent attempt to juice up the strip, to no avail—it was, by many accounts, the least popular of the Fourth World titles, and the characters were reused the least in any post-Kirby appearances to date. THE BOOM TUBE This inter-dimensional mode of transportation was nicknamed by the youth of New Genesis, but I couldn’t find a direct association to the similar-sounding slang phrase “boob tube” (a nickname for television, which had been used since the 1950s). Invented by Metron at Darkseid’s direction, it was given to all in an uncharacteristic act of kindness (or perhaps self-preservation) by Metron. It debuted on Forever People #1’s opening page [bottom right]—the first sequence Jack drew—and it played a subtle, but key role, throughout the entire saga. A direct antecedent can be found in Thor #138’s “Dimension Tunnel” from 1967 [bottom left].

“From the far reaches beyond space and time, where real and unreal have no meaning, emerges a champion whose powers are not governed by the laws of our universe!” He was an enigma when he first appeared, and he was an enigma when he reached his hurried end against Devilance in the final issue (in a scene which could be seen as two samurai battling, and his dying on a sword with honor). “I saw [Mother Box and the Infinity Man] as gaining simple strength from the mystic. I feel that man has the capacity to gain strength from the mystic, something outside himself, something beyond his body. I feel that if man can generate fear, if he can generate cruelty, he can generate who knows what.” Jack Kirby interviewed for Train Of Thought #6, 1971

It’s a pity Jack didn’t have more time to explore this character in print, but he did have something in mind from the outset. “There was a whole storyline involving Infinity Man that never got into the books…” Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

I’d argue that, surveying it from its first issue to its last, Forever People was the Fourth World title that saw the least progression of story and characterization. Because of that, it also held the most untapped potential for future expansion and backstory.

[above center] Detail from an unused Forever People #9 page, showing Vykin’s new sonic powers. This page was inked by John Pound—likely as a tryout to assist Mike Royer with the grueling demands of keeping up with Jack’s output—but Pound never went farther than helping Mike with the lettering on 1973’s Mister Miracle #17.

thing to snap it open. That’s the difference.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Ray Wyman in August 1989, October 1989, and June 1992

Curiously, his costume was colored predominately purple in Mister Miracle #1 [right], rather than red. Asked about the different coloring of the lead character between Mister Miracle #1 and #2, Kirby responded: “What you’re talking about involves an occupational hazard. I happen to be in California and by the time my color sketch had gotten to DC, the deadline had passed and they had to color it fast, so they had to do it on their own, and then made it deeper red. They put more blues in the red and it had sort of a purplish hue, but we corrected that in the second issue.” May 14, 1971 Jack Kirby interview on Northwestern University’s WNUR-FM, conducted by Tim Skelly (published much later in The Nostalgia Journal #27, August 1976)

MISTER MIRACLE: The Mysticism

His assistants recalled the incident in greater detail. [MARK EVANIER:] “Remember how we redid Mister Miracle’s coloring? We had to fight to get that in. Steve and I did the coloring for Mister Miracle because he hated what they had done for the first issue. He was the editor of the book, and they sent it for approval, and he said, ‘I don’t approve,’ and they said, ‘Well, we’re printing it anyway.’ He had a big fight with them over that. He didn’t like any of the colors on the books at all.” [STEVE SHERMAN:] “Because that was the time they were experimenting, I think. Isn’t that when Neal Adams showed them how to do more colors, and they could gray out everything, and so they started graying everything down instead of popping it up?

“Mister Miracle is a superbly professional craftsman. He’s a superb escape artist. He’s a cool character. He’ll play it cool to the very end. I have a scene where it looks like he’s going to get killed, and it’s going to happen in seconds, but he just lays there deliberately trying to see how fast he can get out of there. He wants to see if he can beat those few seconds because he’s a professional. That’s what makes him a super escape artist. He’ll put his life on the line to see how well he can do his craft. That’s the kind of guy he is. He’ll bet you $10,000 that he can get out of any trap you devise. If you lose you pay him ten thousand bucks. He puts his life on the line, but that’s his trade. “Mister Miracle, strangely enough, comes from Apokolips. He’s a defector from Apokolips. Mister Miracle is a nice guy. He just doesn’t think evil. He feels that he should have a good time. He’d like to live life cooly with tongue-in-cheek, and just playing it for the experience. They don’t like that on Apokolips. Of course, they come after him.” Jack Kirby interviewed for Train Of Thought #5, 1971

As his cheeky name implies, Scott Free (Mister Miracle’s alter ego) was constantly trying to escape his Apokolips legacy, but it always found him. It’s tempting to see that as semi-autobiographical, as Kirby’s wife Roz has recounted how Jack had recurring nightmares about his own service in World War II, and the terrors he experienced never left him. “Mister Miracle represented the side that gets away from the Darkseids, that escapes. But ultimately you have to go back and confront them.” Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

Jack himself grew up in New York’s Lower East Side in the 1920s and ’30s (a slightly less violent ghetto than he depicted on Apokolips), but despite punching his way out of scraps as a kid, he learned early on that escaping the slums would rely more on his imagination than his fists. “Mister Miracle was more of a thinker than a fighter. He would get into more subtle situations and find the joints to this [right] This unused, unfinished image was probably meant as the splash page for Mister Miracle #4—and when Kirby realized he’d left the hero locked in a trunk at the end of #3, he had to jettison it for the published image you see above. The trunk escape was a regular part of Harry Houdini’s act [inset].

I know Jack was always saying, ‘The three best colors are blue, red, yellow!’” [MARK EVANIER:] “Yeah. He said, ‘Every DC comic is colored like it’s a war comic.’ And I think that was right. When he told them that he thought Marie Severin was the best colorist in the business, they thought he was crazy. He kept fighting with them a lot.”

question: When did Scott learn Highfather was his parent, who traded him as a “foundling” for Orion? Or had Kirby simply not planned out the eventual “Himon” storyline at that early stage in #1? Knowing how Jack worked, it was more likely the latter. OBERON Oberon was the name of a king of the fairies in Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Besides sharing a strong-willed personality (and perhaps a role as matchmaker in getting the main characters together), there’s little similarity I can find in Jack choosing that name for Mister Miracle’s diminutive assistant. His main purpose seemed to be in heightening tension by worrying about Scott failing in every escape attempt, and as a little comic-relief.

Mark Evanier interviews Steve Sherman on the “NEWS FROM me” blog (www.newsfromme. com) on August 6, 2020

SCOTT FREE Scott was a mystery when we first met him in Mister Miracle #1, but it’s no secret that Kirby based his backstory partially on his own real-life escape from the ghetto of New York’s Lower East Side in the 1920s. This was also a notable example of Kirby developing a character around a person he knew, as Mister Miracle’s concept was inspired by comic book artist Jim Steranko’s early career as a magician and “self-liberationist,” as Houdini referred to himself.

BIG BARDA “I happen to like big girls and Big Barda was a natural type of girl for me to draw. If you’ll dig into this a little deeper, in a psychological way, you’ll find that short men like large women. If you’ll notice my wife, she’s maybe an inch or two taller than I am.”

“…Some of Jim Steranko is in Mister Miracle, but not all because Mister Miracle has a mystic tie-up which has nothing to do with real people. Jim Steranko was a good escape artist before he became an artist. He is certainly a fine entertainer and what he says is true. I did discuss that I had an idea that was similar to what he had done and certainly Jim Steranko being part of my experience was a part of the idea.”

Jack Kirby interviewed by J. Michael Straczynski and Larry DiTillio on the April 13, 1990 episode of Mike Hodel’s Hour 25 radio show

After Scott Free himself, the most compelling (and fan-favorite) character in Mister Miracle was Big Barda, who Kirby may’ve envisioned as a descendant of Lady Sif from Thor. Named after either actress Brigitte Bardot [left] or “Big Bertha” (a howitzer used during World War I)—or both—and physically based on singer Lainie Kazan [right], she took the comics world by storm from her first appearance.

Jack Kirby interviewed by Peter Kuper in 1972, published in G.A.S.Lite, The Official Magazine of the Cleveland Graphic Arts Society Vol. 2, #10, 1973

So it was a case of “plussing” what Steranko had done in real life: “With Mister Miracle, what I did was take some of Steranko’s abilities and ‘superized’ them. In other words, I gave him tricks that no man could do unless he was a super-hero. I gave him stories which forced him into situations where he could do miraculous things.”

“Big Barda represents a woman to me... all women. And, of course, I was raised among women like Big Barda, large women, warm women. And despite the bigness of their size, they’re very feminine, and a man can regard them with respect, which I do.”

Jack Kirby interviewed by Ray Wyman in August 1989, October 1989, and June 1992

When Scott arrived on the scene in Mister Miracle #1 [below], he appeared carrying a literal “bag of tricks” which was his inheritance “left with a foundling by parties unknown.” We can rule out his mentor Himon being the one who left it for him—Scott would’ve made that obvious connection, and Himon wouldn’t have been an “unknown party” at that point. Instead, Jack was insinuating that Highfather took a detached parental role by leaving it (perhaps via Metron) following the swapping of children in “The Pact.” So Scott apparently didn’t know of his New Genesis heritage in issue #1, but by the end of #18, it was clear he did, welcoming the gods of New Genesis at his wedding, and having Highfather officiate. That begs an important

Jack Kirby interviewed by Peter Kuper in 1972, published in G.A.S.Lite, The Official Magazine of the Cleveland Graphic Arts Society Vol. 2, #10, 1973

Kirby, always an innovator, capitalized on the Women’s Liberation movement of the 1970s. During an era where Wonder Woman was depowered and relied on Judo to defeat an opponent, Kirby introduced a truly super-powerful female character, who— unlike Wonder Woman—looked the part. Barda wielded power and her massive strength as well as any male warrior. “Barda was a character that Jack put in because he thought it was a great idea, one that was not being done in super-hero comics at that time. There had never been a really strong woman character who looked strong, except maybe for Little Lotta. Jack noted that female bodybuilders were starting to catch on in the mass media. He saw [top left] Steranko’s World of Escapes from 1964, documented the escape techniques he used prior to becoming a comic book artist. [next page, top] Proposed cover for a solo Big Barda comic, done before Kirby incorporated her into Mister Miracle. Jack’s original idea included The Lump (a character that would eventually appear in Mister Miracle as well), and a set-up with Barda and the Furies running a secret government military/spy base called Beauty-Rock.

biblical inspirations for his characters, but many went far beyond that. Kirby didn’t simple “make up” characters and names—most were inspired, consciously or not, by some combination of things he’d seen or read, all percolating around in his prodigious imagination over the course of years, until just the right opportunity arose to spit them out. And make no mistake; Kirby, despite his street-smart upbringing, was incredibly well-read, as evidenced by the complex array of personalities in his supporting cast. FORAGER New Genesis, despite its tranquility, harbored a fierce army of underground humanoid bugs, the result of infestations caused by Apokolips’ incursions to the planet during the Great Clash. The germ of the bug colony was first hinted at in a Vykin back-up in New Gods #7, although the appearance of Mantis even earlier presaged Jack’s ongoing fascination with insects. Kirby imagined Earth as a “Doomed Dominion” long before Forager emerged in New Gods #9. An invasion of “bugs” attacked Earth in 1954’s Black Magic #31 in the grim story “Slaughter-House.” [right] He riffed on insects again in a 1966 “Tales of Asgard” story in Journey Into Mystery #124-125, [left] which featured Queen Ula and her swarming hive of bug warriors. these pageants on ABC’s Wide World of Sports, and in other places, and he said, ‘That’s a great idea for comics.’ So Big Barda was suddenly in the next Mister Miracle he drew. He was also inspired by Lainie Kazan being in Playboy... But ultimately, the personality of Big Barda was pretty much Roz [right], and Jack was pretty much Scott Free.” Mark Evanier interviewed by Jon B. Cooke in October 1999, for Comic Book Artist Special Edition #1

AROUND THE (FOURTH) WORLD: The Supporting Cast “There were all these different themes operating, and I think one of the reasons the comics have touched so many people is that anyone can look at the whole Fourth World set-up and find some analogy for their own life in there. Because we all at some point have to confront dealing with people like Darkseid, dealing with people who want to own us or possess us or control us. And we can react as Mister Miracle did by fleeing from them, or react as Orion did by confronting them, or as the Forever People did by essentially hiding from them.” Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6 © Universal Records.

All four corners of the Fourth World were populated with the most colorful and diverse set of supporting players in comics history. In just two years, Kirby managed to create nearly as many recurring characters as during his entire decade-long run at Marvel Comics in the 1960s. Later in this book, I touch on some of the 71

The banning of DDT in Spring 1972 (a direct result of Rachel Carson’s bestselling 1962 book Silent Spring, which detailed the dangers of widespread pesticide use) shows what an important topic that was at the time Kirby drew Forager’s debut in late 1971—a story which featured New Genesis’ flying Monitors [below] spraying the surface of the planet to exterminate lifesized insect “pests.” Jack’s first depiction of Forager without his helmet on page 10 of New Gods #9 [bottom] was the kind of more deliberate rendering he reserved for characters that were based on real people, but I’m unable to pinpoint who Forager’s visual source might be, although teen singing idol Donny Osmond seems a possible candidate of that time period. The fact that a young New Genesis god was living among the bugs meant Kirby had something more in mind for his backstory, but sadly he never got to tell it.

MANTIS The energy vampire had no direct namesake, but likely emanated from Dracula. Jack repeatedly referred to that legendary bloodsucker throughout the series (in a collage in Jimmy Olsen #134, as well as in Forever People #1, Mister Miracle #4, and the visit to Transylvane in Jimmy Olsen #142), so he had to have had Vlad on the brain. Mark Evanier mentioned to me that Jack was, at that time, kicking around an idea for a horror magazine tentatively called Dracula Forever, which never saw the light of day (as no vampire should). Kirby’s earliest use of a vampire was in 1941’s Captain Marvel Adventures #1 [above], wherein the main hero derived his powers by saying “SHAZAM!”, an abbreviation for the names of seven mythical gods: Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury. Much like a traditional horror movie vampire retreated to his coffin before dawn, Mantis had to return to his Power Pod to recharge his powers, which varied from electrical to atom-manipulation, depending on Kirby’s needs in a given plot. Based on a November 9, 1969 interview, Kirby originally named him “The Green Mantis” before shortening it when he was incorporated in 1971’s Forever People #2, coinciding with a one-page cameo the same month in New Gods #2 [above]. Kirby’s fascination with bugs would play out long after Mantis’ debut, as you’ll see in his Captain Victory series, documented later in this book.

ABC-TV’s popular Wild World of Sports show, who won three Gold medals at the 1968 Winter Olympics and became an international star. “At one point, [Jack] decided that a bizarre character on skis would be called The Black Racer and would be in a standalone comic, completely unconnected to the others. That plan later changed…” Mark Evanier, Jack F.A.Q.s column, Jack Kirby Collector #47, Fall 2006

The Willie Walker version, as described in New Gods #3, “…is now one of many messengers! All who make the one entity—the Black Racer!” So the character could’ve later been inhabiting a female, or any other ethnicity or nationality just as easily—a fascinating aspect of Jack’s concept that he never got to explore. Kirby was also on record stating that the color scheme for the Black Racer was his: red, blue, and yellow—his favorite choices, just as his assistants described earlier. GLORIOUS GODFREY “Glorious Godfrey is tremendous; Glorious Godfrey is the only entertainment we have today... and I feel that kind of thing says, ‘Think my way and you’ll be happy.’ To me, that’s Anti-Life. In other words, if you can’t do your thinking, you’re not alive.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Barry Alfonso in 1975, for the fanzine Mysticogryfil

Darkseid’s goal was to harness the Anti-Life Equation to control the universe, and his disciple Glorious Godfrey in Forever People (inspired by evangelist Billy Graham [left]) was a “revelationist” who preached that principle of Anti-Life through the Apokolips version of a Southern Baptist tent revival. By indirectly linking mind control to Christianity, Jack was definitely, as Darkseid put it in New Gods #6, treading “on subversive ground!”

THE BLACK RACER “When I created the character Willie, I did indeed find myself with a Black paraplegic, racing through the skies on far-out skis as an Angel of Death. There’s enough analysis in that for the both of us. I’ll leave you to grind out yours, because I’m still busy figuring out my own answers.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Jonathan Bacon in Fall of 1973, published in Fantasy Crossroads #1, 1974

The Black Racer’s name, paradoxically, came from a non-lethal snake prominent in the southeastern US. Just as Kirby developed the Silver Surfer after seeing California surfers, he likely found inspiration in French alpine ski racer Jean-Claude Killy, a regular on

[top to bottom] Mantis, Glorious Godfrey (juxtaposed beside real-life inspiration Billy Graham), and the Black Racer.

DESAAD “The other kind of evil that you have is the person who wants to cause you pain because they enjoy it. That was all manifested in Desaad. Whenever Jack drew Desaad, he was drawing everybody he’d ever met who enjoyed somebody else’s failure or pain. One of the things I learned from Jack as a person was not to enjoy the pains of others. Jack was never that kind of person. If you went up to Jack and said, ‘Hey, I just had a friend who was hurt in a car accident,’ even if he didn’t know the person, he’d be genuinely concerned that someone was in pain. That person’s pain was his pain. Jack never derived any glee at all from somebody else’s pain or misfortune or suffering, and Desaad was about people who do.” Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for TJKC #6

STEPPENWOLF Darkseid’s uncle Steppenwolf was surely named after the late 1960s rock band known for hits such as “Born to Be Wild” (the band took its name from a 1927 novel by Hermann Hesse). Steppenwolf’s music appeared in the film Easy Rider, which was a pivotal influence in the development of the Forever People, as documented earlier. Their name was prominently positioned at the top right corner of the film’s soundtrack album [above], which was certified a Gold Record in January 1970, and climbed to #6 on the Billboard magazine album charts that year—making it even more likely that one of Jack’s kids picked up a copy at their local record store and brought it home. HIMON San Diego Comic-Con co-founder Shel Dorf [right] was a visual inspiration, at least, for Scott Free’s Apokolips mentor Himon in Mister Miracle #9. Charles Dickens’ book Oliver Twist was literally referenced by Kirby in that issue, with the character Fagin as inspiring Himon, and Scott Free’s cruel treatment in Granny Goodness’ orphanage (and eventual escape) mimicking Oliver’s own experiences. KANTO To show you how Jack would come up with an idea, then go a totally different direction, in Newfangles #52 (October 1971), it was stated that, “Tony [Isabella] [below] will be in an upcoming issue of Mister Miracle (we think) as Zambini, an inept assassin.” A subsequent issue of Mister Miracle marked the debut of Kanto the Assassin, who was anything but inept. Newfangles editor Maggie Thompson didn’t remember any specifics about it at this late date, so I asked Tony for his recollections—and while there may be some truth to Jack using real-life fans as characters, there’s also a lot of over-exuberance in claiming it without a solid basis in fact.

The name Desaad was derived from that of French writer Marquis de Sade, notorious for indulging in deviant sexual and social acts, from which the terms sadism and sadist were coined. That connection was never more apparent than in a full-page image of him in Forever People #4 [above]. In it, Desaad’s face was contorted into a detailed expression unlike any we saw elsewhere, and at a glance, it appeared he was holding a paintbrush, about to make a comatose Beautiful Dreamer’s hair blonde for her upcoming torture. Upon closer inspection, however, only the colorist’s treatment made it seem like a paintbrush he was holding, and her hair wasn’t blonde in succeeding panels. Instead, if you just view the black and white artwork, there were clearly no bristles, and that “brush” was closer to an equestrian’s riding whip—which gave that scene an entirely different connotation, and one right up a sadomasochist’s alley. (Without a photocopy of Kirby’s original pencil art, there’s no way to know if the Comics Code Authority, or DC itself, mandated a change from what Jack originally drew.)

“My initial reaction to this was... ‘Wha--?’ I have no memory of this. I had visited Jack Kirby a year or so earlier, but he never said anything about using me in a story. I do remember that, just before and after I went to work for Marvel, there were all sorts of crazy rumors going around Cleveland [Ohio] comics fandom. “There was an older fan—very weird, though not in a scary way—who claimed he was the model for Big Bear. That I had told Jack Kirby about him. His evidence was that Jack had clearly based Big Words of the Newsboy Legion on me. Now I have great admiration for Jack, but, as brilliant as he was, I don’t think he could have based a character on me ten years before I was born and almost two decades before he met me. TONY ISABELLA:

KALIBAK Kalibak’s namesake was Caliban, a half-human/half-monster from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest (although Kirby drew him much like a descendant of the troll Ulik from his Thor run). Kalibak was the son of Darkseid and the sorceress Suli, making him Orion’s half-brother. Orion later said they’d fought each other since childhood, but it’s unclear if that was before The Pact sent Orion to New Genesis, or after—or both.

[left] Charles A. Buchel’s 1904 drawing of actor Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Caliban, from a performance of The Tempest at His Majesty’s Theatre in the United Kingdom.

“They may have taken my story about ‘Big Bear’ and misremembered it. Or I could have been brainstorming silly ideas when I visited Don and Maggie. But I don’t think I would have told them that was an actual thing.“

sexual undertones, if one cared to look for them. Mrs. Mann’s violent and neglectful treatment of her orphans in Oliver Twist resonated in Granny’s own personality, as depicted by Kirby. Between she and Desaad, Kirby was slyly sneaking some more mature suggestiveness into his Fourth World series.

Tony Isabella via email with John Morrow on October 9, 2020

The Order of Assassins was a sect from Persia and Syria that existed from 1090 and 1275, and conducted covert murders of their government’s enemies. The modern term “assassination” is based on their tactics, and an assassin was portrayed in the 19th canto of Inferno, part of Dante Alighieri’s [left] epic poem Divine Comedy. (Long poems are often divided into sections called “cantos.”) I’d posit that Jack had read Inferno at some point, and the name Kanto popped out for Darkseid’s personal assassin. FASTBAK With just two brief “Young Gods of Supertown” back-ups under his belt, Fastbak seemed to be a throwaway character. But why then, didn’t Kirby instead use those pages to expound on the more highprofile Lightray’s backstory, or Mark Moonrider’s? Fastbak literally cheated death by being faster than the Black Racer in rescuing Esak, in a (pardon the pun) rushed three-page back-up story which must’ve had some significance to Kirby. I’m yet to find that deeper meaning, other than to possibly set-up Esak’s appearance in an eventual climax to his epic, as he did in the 1985 Hunger Dogs graphic novel. (But what’s with the keyhole symbol on his headgear?)

FEMALE FURIES In that era of Women’s Liberation, powerful women ruled the Mister Miracle comic. Following Big Barda, Jack introduced the Female Furies in issue #6. In Greek mythology, the Furies were a group of female deities that took vengeance on evil men—which described Kirby’s new crew to a tee. This bickering group of super-powered shock troops [above, from Mister Miracle #8] fell into line when Barda commanded them, and performed their tasks with surgical precision, with yet another hint of S&M in their wardrobe and powers (particularly Lashina).

ANGRY CHARLIE An easy-to-recognize Kirby source was Brigadoon, the stage musical about American tourists who discovered a mysterious Scottish village that only appeared for one day every 100 years. The Kirby story “Brigadoom” from Jimmy Olsen #145 detailed the search for a hidden Scottish facility (Darkseid’s rival Project “The Evil Factory,”) that produced strange, genetically altered creatures. One of those DNAliens, Angry Charlie, was a destructive but affectionate creation which Gabby adopted as a pet. He may’ve gotten his name from, of all things, a Vietnam War film documentary. The World of Charlie Company aired twice during prime time on CBS television in Summer 1970. It showed what the over 100 men of Army unit Charlie Company experienced fighting in the jungles of South Vietnam, and their revolt against their commander when they received orders which they felt put them at unreasonable risk of being wiped out by the enemy (making them an “angry Charlie” indeed). Jack, with his WWII experience, certainly would’ve been drawn to watch it. After Kirby left the Olsen series, Angry Charlie’s fate was—well, not resolved, but elaborated on, in Jimmy Olsen #150. A Newsboy Legion back-up story (written by E. Nelson Bridwell, not Jack) showed what happened to the creature after Kirby left him asleep and tied to the top of the Whiz Wagon at the end of #148, bringing some closure to a delightful Kirby concept.

“…I named a couple of the Female Furies—Lashina and Stompa, I think. What happened was that I came up with a character that Jack liked. I’m not sure if it would have wound up in New Gods or would be a separate comic. It was a girl with ESP called Phantasmagloria. Jack loved the name, and when he started the Female Furies he was going to name one of them Phantasmagloria. But then he decided the name was too good to waste on a small character, so he asked me to give him some other names. I jotted down a whole bunch of names and two or three of them made it into the final grouping.” Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

In Mister Miracle, we also learned that Bernadeth of the Female Furies was actually the sister of Desaad. Based on her yellow skin color and face tattoos, I’d assume Jack likewise intended Mad Harriet to be related to Mokkari from Jimmy Olsen, although it was never stated as such. TIGRA One other sign of female empowerment came in Mister Miracle #8, as we discovered the fate of Orion’s mother Tigra. Though she was being held captive by Darkseid, she still had the ferocity we saw in the flashback story “The Pact” in New Gods #7, despite being older. Her inclusion played out meaningfully in the eventual Hunger Dogs graphic novel. That just scratches the surface of the characters and concepts that inhabited Kirby’s Fourth World. You could easily come up with a new one every day for a year—or so Jon B. Cooke set out to prove in our next section.

GRANNY GOODNESS There’s never been a villainess like Granny in comics, before or since her debut in Mister Miracle #2. An apparent octogenarian, she quickly cast aside any pretense of being a kindly old matron, and revealed a sadomasochistic outfit and baton, which she reveled in beating her “orphans” with on the planet Apokolips. Here was a wicked witch with some uncomfortable 74

JON B. COOKE’S

365 DAYS OF JACK KIRBY’S

FOURTH WORLD

Back in 2010, convinced that the sheer volume of inventiveness in Jack Kirby’s Fourth World work would prove me right, I came up with the notion to do a daily blog and, one entry per day, list characters, concepts, and items of his creation to discuss over an entire year. Before I got too busy to finish the project, my effort, titled the same

as this piece, lasted for 100+ entries of my blog hosted by the Kirby Museum website. I did, however, create a spreadsheet that validates my theory as true. Now and again, I thought about finishing up the 365-entry project and I’m appreciative to John Morrow who requested I do just that for this special edition of TJKC. — Jon B. Cooke

001 Acid-Pods

Angry Charlie

[New Gods #9] Weaponry used by marauding “Bugs” to burn enemies BUG SPRAY when raiding the hives of other colonies on New Genesis.

002 014 Animates

Adon

[Forever People #11] Idyllic, Eden-like planet—“the great, green, havenlike world”—where Infinity Man finds respite and, FOREVER WORLD at the end of the series, where the Forever People are subsequently marooned.

003

MIND-FORCE

Anti-Life Equation

Vehicle used by Harassers to transport “worms,” AIR BUS new arrivals to Granny Goodness’ “Finishing School.”

[New Gods #1] Home planet of ruler Darkseid, a world encompassed by DARK LAND one giant city, and planetary opposite of New Genesis. Its surface pocked with giant energy pits belching poison into the air and is populated by slaves, slave-drivers, and an elite ruling them all. A place that worships death.

[Mister Miracle #2] Flat round devices—like vinyl records—Scott Free DISC JOCKEYS and Barda stand upon to obtain the ability of flight.

Aero-Pads [New Gods #5]

015

004 016 Apokolips

Levitating motorcycle-like vehicle used by Kanto’s henchmen to drag Scott Free through Grayborders. OUTLAW BIKERS

005 Aero-Discs

[Mister Miracle #3] Humanoid servants controlled by ethereal Dr. Bedlam, whose persona can inhabit an Animate’s physical being.

[Forever People #1] The nebulous object of Darkseid’s intense desire: the power that will give him control over every living being MACGUFFIN in the universe. The secret of the Equation is locked inside of the minds of unknown humans, and his quest is to ultimately possess this almighty power.

Aero-Carrier [Mister Miracle #7]

Aero-Cycle [Mister Miracle #7]

013

[Jimmy Olsen #145] Bug-eyed monster created by the Evil Factory who becomes an adored pet of Newsboy Legionnaire Gabby. FACTORY WORK

Arin, the Armored Man [J. Olsen #146]

006

007 Aero-Van

[Forever People #3] Flying vehicle used to transport victims to HappyFORCED BUSING land, Earth’s Darkseid-controlled amusement park.

017

Created by his “father,” Prof. Packard, and born of The Project, this artificial human—entrusted with a contain- STARMAN er carrying Superman’s DNA and tissue sample—propels through the cosmos.

Fastbak of Supertown affixes these devices to his boots, enabling high-speed flight in air and space. FLEET OF FOOT

018 Armagetto

[Mister Miracle #9] The slums of Apokolips where Granny Goodness’ OrphanSLUM SUICIDE age is located. It is also haven to the rebellious Himon.

008 Arta, the Sentry 019 009 All-Nations Agency 020 Astro-Force The All-Widow 010 Astro-Glider 021 011 Alpha-Bomb 022 Attu Alpha-Bullets 012 Auralie 023 The Alien Thing [Jimmy Olsen #143]

DIABOLICAL DEBUT

[Forever People #7] Guardian of the road during the days of the Roman occupation of Briton, observed by time-traveling Big Bear. GREAT BRITON

[Mister Miracle #10] United Nations-type organization whose agent HEAD INVESTIGATORS McCracken is the World Protective League’s prisoner.

[New Gods #1] Aside from his rage, Orion’s Astro-Force—powerful GOD POWER concussion blasts—is his most destructive weapon.

[New Gods #9] Colony queen and Mantis ally who, in a ritual execution, QUEEN BUG kills Prime One with her “sacrificial ‘Electro-Stabber.’”

[New Gods #1] Also known as Orion’s Astro-Harness, it is a sort-of cosmic glider with which he travels dimensional byways. GOD SPEED

[Jimmy Olsen #134] Explosive device planted on the Whiz Wagon by Morgan Edge BOMBER to blow up Mountain of Judgment—a plan foiled by Superman.

[Mister Miracle #16] Mutated ant changed into a humanoid by Prof. Egg “ANT” MAN (though likely a figment of Shilo’s imagination).

[Forever People #7] Generated by Highfather, energy blasts traversing space and time to bring Forever People to today’s Earth. SALVATION

[Mister Miracle #9] “Poor, brave” Himon recruit whose mind “creates beauty” but is tortured to death by Wonderful Willik. TINY DANCER

The first D.N.Alien—fast-growing, hostile, capable of wide-scale destruction—which self-destructs.

024 Avia

Big Bowl

[New Gods #7] Adored wife of Izaya and Scott Free’s mother whose DEVOTED ONE murder by Steppenwolf triggers the Great Clash.

Badger [New Gods #3]

Squinty-eyed, bald Inter-Gang agent who, before his arrest, orders Sugar-Man to bomb a building.

026 Big Barda

[Mister Miracle #6] Basically an oversized fish bowl made of durable plastic, used in a Scott Free escape performance.

025 039 Big Words, Jr.

The sixth “string” of the San Diego Five String Mob, whose horn emits a destructive sonic blast.

The Black Racer

027 AFTER YOU, ALPHONSO

028 The Barrier 030 Basilisks

[Jimmy Olsen #145] Made by the Evil Factory, “swingin’ little ‘hairballs’” NO TRIBBLES with tiny bodies, big heads, and shrieks of “Greeeep!”

Billion-Dollar Bates [Forever People #8]

041

042

[Forever People #1] Interplanetary transportation mode linking New GET TUBULAR! Genesis and Apokolips to Earth and vice versa, a temporary cosmic tunnel manifested out of thin air, which soon dissipates.

[Mister Miracle #6] Chemical saturating Energy Blocks fed to inmates of MUDDLED MINDS Granny Goodness’ orphanage, to keep them docile.

Brain Scanner [New Gods #6, 1984]

Capable of retrieving memories of people, and (presumably) gather atoms to resurrect them.

031 045 Bravo

044 REINTEGRATOR

[Mister Miracle #9] Helmeted ward of Himon who attempts to steal an GAUDY TRADER anti-grav unit. Later tortured to death by Willik.

032 Beautiful Dreamer

[Forever People #1] Forever People teammate whose power is creating GOOD GIRL telepathic connections with others to generate usually benign but sometimes horrific apparitions and who is, as Infinity Man states, “One of the few whose mind can fathom the Anti-Life Equation!”

Brola [New Gods #2]

046

Loyal Darkseid lieutenant possessing the “power SHOCKER MAN of the Shock-Prod—and the Hand of Stone!”

Ted Brown 047 033

[Mister Miracle #10] Son of the original Mister Miracle and promoter/ THE PITCHMAN manager/PR agent of Scott Free’s escape act.

A “being of pure psionic energy” and scientist who controls Animates, his android henchmen, and is PARANOIAC able to appear as a disembodied head, plus inhabit bodies of his subordinates.

034

Cemetery dating back to colonial times where the mausoleum housing the mini-planet Transilvane is located.

043 Brain Drain

Megalomaniacal billionaire in whose brain resides the Anti-Life Equation, though he’s killed before it is taken. MIND BLOWN

Doctor Bedlam [Mister Miracle #3]

Bloodmoor [Jimmy Olsen #142]

Boom Tube

029

The genetic make-up of the Project’s Model Four is based on executed gangster Floyd Barstow’s DNA. MODEL CITIZEN

040

[New Gods #3] So-called “Messenger of Death” born of The SURFIN’ ON SKIS Source and allied with neither New Genesis, Apokolips or Earth, it is an “elemental force capable of dealing death in a single touch” manifested in the animated form of paralyzed veteran Willie Walker. He flies the spaceways on celestial skis which can travel at the speed of light.

CRYPT KEEPER

[Forever People #5] Force field created by Darkseid that prevents an UNFATHOMABLE exiled Infinity Man from returning to Earth.

“Bullets” Barstow [Jimmy Olsen #148]

“PYOW!”

[Jimmy Olsen #133] Newsboy Legion resident genius whose full name, BOOKSMART like that of his namesake dad, is never revealed.

INTER-GANGSTER

[Mister Miracle #4] Leader of the Female Fury Battalion and graduate of FURIOUS FEMME Granny Goodness training who is recruited for the Special Powers Force, but instead flees Apokolips as she rejects Darkseid to share adventures with Scott Free, with whom she eventually falls in love and marries.

Barriboy [Jimmy Olsen #144]

038

Thaddeus Brown

048

[Mister Miracle #1] The original Mister Miracle, graying escape artist THE ORIGINAL formerly known as “The Great Thaddeus” and father of Ted. He is assassinated under orders from Inter-Gang chief Steel Hand.

Bekka [The Hunger Dogs]

Born of New Genesis and Apokolips inhabitant,

Burnadeth/Bernadeth 049 Beta Gas 035 Cable-Snare 050 036 Beta-Club Admiral Case 051 Big Bear 037 Centri-Spin 052 MRS. WAR DOG she is the daughter of Himon (“all that is salvaged”

[MM #6] Sister of Desaad, Female Fury, and wielder of infernoHOT NEEDLER inducing Fahrenknife and the Dimension Blade.

from his “personal tragedy”) and witness to his killing. She is also lover to Orion. [Jimmy Olsen #136] Vapor used during the gestation of Four-Armed Terror egg-sacs being raised by the Evil Factory.

[New Gods #7] Steppenwolf weapon that fires Radion Bolts— one kills Izaya’s wife, Avia, igniting a cosmic war.

ATMOSPHERICS

[New Gods #1] Kalibak’s high-tech bludgeon, which emits a “Nerve TRUNCHEON Beam [that] can cause an army to writhe in agony!”

RADION DEATH

[Mister Miracle #12] Three-star U.S. Navy admiral who sanctions—and starts to IN THE NAVY regret—a Scott Free routine escaping death by torpedo.

[Forever People #1] The jovial, happy, rock ’em-sock ’em, red-headed giant member of the Forever People, driver of the SUPER-CYCLIST Super-Cycle and possessed of super-strength, enforced by high-density atoms.

[Mister Miracle #5] Centrifuge-like device devised by Virman VundaSPIN DOCTOR bar to be used in a scheme to kill Scott Free.

Ceri-Skiff

053 069 D.N.Aliens

[Mister Miracle #11] Flying saucer-like ship devised by Doctor Bedlam to trap and submit Scott Free to a fatal space trip. SUPER-TRAP

[Jimmy Olsen #136] Engineered life-forms created by The Project, some GENE POOLERS all-new, some straight clones, and some hybrid.

Dafura 054 Chamber of Regeneration 070 Chandler Towers 055 071 Colonel Darby Darkseid 056 Chimera 072 The Colony 057 De-Energizing Bombs Communi-Screen 073 058 Terry Dean Compact Cocoon Spinner 074 059 The Deep Six Compressor Waves 075 060 Demon Dog Computo-Stylus 076 061 Demon Raiders Laura Conway 077 062 Desaad Cosmic Carousel 078 063 064 Cosmic Cartridges 079 Destructi-Poles Cosmic Lasers 065 Devilance the Pursuer 080 [FP #7] Room where Highfather emits Alpha-Bullets to INFINITELY ATTUNED retrieve the scattered Forever People lost in time.

[Mister Miracle #13] Statue of arm-saluting figure labeled with a name that sounds a lot like the Fuehrer of Nazi infamy. FASCIST PHONY

[Mister Miracle #3] Building Scott Free must descend and try to avoid a crazed mob infected by Bedlam’s Paranoid Pill. 50 FREAKY FLOORS

VOICE OF FATE

[Jimmy Olsen #145] Hybrid beast genetically created by the Evil Factory, IT’S A ZAMERIA modeled after the same-named creature of myth. [New Gods #9] Home to Forager and his clan of “bugs,” located underneath the surface of planet New Genesis.

[Jimmy Olsen #134] Dispatcher of the Omega Effect and undisputed leader of Apokolips, nemesis of Highfather, father GOD OF DARKNESS and mortal foe of Orion, and seeker of the Anti-Life Equation. He is also Queen Heggra’s son and husband of Tigra (who he keeps in exile). Not without a sense of humor, he is a hulking, stone-faced, horrid tyrant who rules by terror.

HIVE IS HOME

[New Gods #7] Nuclear electromagnetic pulse devices used by New NEMP’S PIT-FIRE Genesis to disarm Apokolips during the Great Clash.

[Jimmy Olsen #138] Secret desk device with closed circuit TV used by FACETIMING Morgan Edge to communicate with Inter-Gang.

[Jimmy Olsen #138] Young woman helpful to Superman and Cosmic Carousel proprietor friendly with Perry White.

[MM #1] Scott Free’s device that “turns out yards of plastic material at fantastic speeds,” including parachutes. ALL WRAPPED UP

[Jimmy Olsen #143] Dabney Donovan’s winged canine robot made to eradicate life on Transilvane with Genocide Spray. PUP ON A MISSION

PENMANSHIP

[New Gods #7] Under the command of Steppenwolf, marauding DOG WARRIORS troops who join his hunting trip to New Genesis.

[Jimmy Olsen #138] Morgan Edge’s personal secretary and previously MISS GALAXY the “most trusted” employee of Dabney Donovan. [Jimmy Olsen #144] Metropolis discotheque owned by Terry Dean where the San Diego Five-String Mob performs.

DISCO QUEEN

[New Gods #2] “Mystic mutators of the deep” from Apokolips, a team of FISHY FOES amphibian invaders, all killed by Orion and Lightray.

[Jimmy Olsen #145] Seemingly gas-like process that causes miniaturizaSHRINKAGE tion near the Scottish “Evil Factory,” Brigadoom. [Mister Miracle #9] Pen-like device of Himon gang member Zep, which he utilizes while drawing at the elbow of his benefactor.

[Mister Miracle #12] Wealthy sportsman and ringleader of a betting pool wagering against Scott Free’s fight with alien Mystivac.

[Forever People #2] Second-most powerful player in Darkseid’s royal court, a sadistic, craven creep who revels in tortur- FEAR FEEDER ing the Forever People with numerous devices, including the Fear Machine. He’s disintegrated by a displeased Apokoliptic ruler (though is later reintegrated).

NIGHT CLUBBING

[Forever People #2] Kept in bullet loops on Serifan’s hat-band, each has SPACE CAPSULES a fantastic ability, including a life-force cartridge.

[New Gods #7] Weaponized high-tech javelins thrown by New VAULTIN’ VOLTS Genesis vaulters against invaders during the Clash.

[New Gods #7] During the Great Clash, Apokolips transforms huge suns into massive, planet-destroying, fiery weapons. SHARD MAKERS

[FP #11] Apokoliptic villain and wielder of a demon lance who perishes alongside adversary Infinity Man. LANCES A LOT

066 Council of the Young

081 Director

[FP #7] New Genesis assembly able to hold Highfather to WISDOM OF ESAK account and request his help for the Forever People.

[Forever People #10] One-armed leader of the crime cabal called the ScavenHOOKED MAN gers, and possible assassin of Boston Brand/Deadman.

067 Dog Calvary 082 083 Eve Donner 068 Country Boy Count Dragorin

[Jimmy Olsen #142] Vampire denizen of Transilvane with “evil eye” power on a mission to save his miniature planet.

[New Gods #1] Ridden by Darkseid minions like horses, these huge, fanged canines possess savage tempers.

HE’S GOT THE POWER

GO FETCH!

[New Gods #10] Playwright and surprised host to Orion and Lightray ORION’S JUDGE on the terrace of her expensive Metropolis apartment.

[New Gods #4] Criminal member of the Inter-Gang crew in charge HOOKING SNAKY of the Jammer, which cloaks agents of Apokolips.

084 Donnie

Energy Egg [Jimmy Olsen #137]

[Forever People #2] A handicapped kid living in poverty with his Uncle FOREVER FAN Willie who becomes a friend of the Forever People.

Dabney Donovan [Jimmy Olsen #142]

085 100 Esak

[New Gods #4] The youngest of the New Gods, once a favorite of HighSAD FATE father, he’s seduced by technology and suffers tragically.

Unseen “wild” NASA scientist who creates TransilWORLD-MAKER vane and plans the micro-planet’s destruction.

086 Snaky Doyle

[New Gods #4] Inter-Gang thug who leads O’Ryan’s Mob to the JamROUGHED-UP PUNK mer and is punished with paralysis by Country Boy.

Dragon-Tanks

[New Gods #7] Enormous flame-throwing tanks from Apokolips that attack New Genesis during the Great Clash.

088

The Evil Factory [Jimmy Olsen #135]

087 KKRRAAAKLE!

102 Fahrenknife

089

090 Morgan Edge

[Jimmy Olsen #133] Slick, devious, urbane Galaxy Broadcasting System MEDIA MOGUL owner, corporate takeover executive, and secret agent for Apokolips who constantly schemes to foil Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen.

Professor Egg [Mister Miracle #16]

104 Fear Machine

Rate of success Desaad inflicts on city populace, as he actually experiences “wonderful waves of raw fear.”

TERRORSCOPE

[Jimmy Olsen #135] While never satisfactorily explained, it is believed to MYSTERIOUS pertain to monstrosities produced by the Evil Factory.

The Final Barrier [New Gods #5]

Electro-Pistols [Forever People #8]

095 110 BIKERMAN

1000 HOT NEEDLES

Flek [Jimmy Olsen #133]

Member of the Outsiders motorcycle gang and Yango’s comrade. He resides in the Wild Area’s Habitat with the rest of his clan.

Funky Flashman

111

[Mister Miracle #6] Ex-employee of Colonel Mockingbird, he is a huckster and amoral showman/entrepreneur angling to become Scott Free’s manager. THE MAN

Killing device used by Mantis cohort All-Widow for WIDOW’S BITE ritual sacrifice of Prime One in Forager’s Colony.

Flight-Shoes 112 097

[Forever People #6] Likely made in Apokolips and worn by Glorious Godfrey’s JustifiSKYCLOGS ers to fly on patrol, the footwear is apparently somewhat noisy.

Inter-dimensional “highway” navigated by Big Bear as he commands the Forever People’s Super-Cycle. FREE FREEWAY

098

109

Just beyond the Promethean Galaxy, impenetrable even THE SOURCE by titans, where reside answers to cosmic questions.

Electro-Stabber [New Gods #9]

Electron Road [Forever People #3]

107

093 108 File 202

High-voltage hand-held guns used by Billionaire BEAR HUNTING Bates’ private army to assault the Forever People.

096

[Forever People #2] Resembling a stethoscope, Desaad’s apparatus to drink in others’ fear is apparently connected to his Fear Machine.

The Female Furies

Steppenwolf’s weapon used during raids on New Genesis, which he declares has a “burning bite.” FOR GLORY!

Cycle of torment Scott Free and Oberon endure while confined in a glass cage within the X-Pit.

SCARE SCALE

[Mister Miracle #6] Initially an Apokolips shock troop, a band of highlyskilled women warriors, led by Barda, each uniquely GRANNY’S GIRLS adept at inflicting destruction and pain. They are now allied against Apokolips.

Bola-like weapon that “hisses and crackles powerful

Electro-Shock Cycle [Mr. Miracle #2]

105

091 106 Fear Siphon

I SAY ‘BOLA’ energy” able to subdue Superman on New Genesis.

094

[New Gods #2] Device created by Desaad to inflict fear in Earthlings and BRAIN ATTACK to uncover the mind containing the Anti-Life Equation.

Fear Quotient [Forever People #2]

Electri-Bolo [Jimmy Olsen #147]

Electro-Axe [New Gods #7]

103

Ebullient young god of Supertown who, donning AeroPads, is second only to Lightray in flying speed. He’s also SPEEDY blessed with an “incurably beautiful voice,” and he performs for Highfather.

Imploder-Field controller and maker of Insecto-Sapiens (real name: Exe), tho’ probably a Shilo Norman delusion. EXE-HEAD

092

[Mister Miracle #6] Bernadeth’s dart-like weapon that is fired from a handheld box and, penetrating skin, incinerates from within.

Fastbak [New Gods #5]

Police officer who places murder witness Shilo Nor-

BUSTING THE FEZ man under the protection of Scott Free and Barda.

Horned, granite-hued researcher and D.N.Alien at The Project possessing kinetic abilities and E.S.P. KINDLY DEVIL He accompanies Superman and Terry Dean as they search a Metropolis tunnel.

101

The Apokolips version of The Project run by sinister Mokkari and Simyan, also called “Brigadoom,” located in Scotland, and DARK DNA which produces D.N.A. hybrids, monsters, and replicas of mythological creatures.

WELL-BAKED

Lieutenant Driver [Mister Miracle #15]

Dubbilex [Jimmy Olsen #136]

099

An impenetrable capsule generated by the FourArmed Terror, encasing Superman and companions. BIG STUPID EGG

Flipper Dipper

113

[Jimmy Olsen #133] Scuba suit-wearing member of the renewed Newsboy Legion, a scrawny kid full of pugnacious courage who rarely takes off FLIP DIP his face mask and wet gear. He’s also apparently the newest recruit to the gang.

Energy Blocks [Mister Miracle #6]

Doped with the Brain Drain chemical, squares of YUM YUM YUM! bland food served to Granny Goodness’s orphans.

Gole 128 114

Flying Monitors [New Gods #7]

[New Gods #6] The helmeted Deep Six member who used a sai-like DEEP #4 three-pronged dagger as weapon. Killed in battle.

New Genesis flying combatants with devices bringing “fiery destruction” to Apokolips, and dropping De-energizing Bombs. BOMBERS

115

Granny Goodness [Mister Miracle #13]

Follower [Forever People #10]

Artificial humanoid created by the Forever People that mimics

LIFEGUY movement which serves as “vessel” for Deadman to “live.”

116

Forager [New Gods #9]

130 Granny’s Finishing School Granny’s Raiders 131 132 Gravi-Guards 118 Grayborders 133 134 The Great Clash 120 Green K Paralysis Gun 135 136 Griffin 122 The Guardian 137

Often referred to as “Bug,” he is possibly born of Supertown but raised in the underground insect-humanoid realm of New BUGMAN Genesis called the Colony. He journeys to Earth to help Orion defeat Mantis.

117 The Forever People

[Forever People #1] Team of young adventurers from Supertown on New Genesis HIPPYKIDS who, though generally non-violent, fight against agents of Apokolips who are constantly harassing the team. The Super-Cycle traveling quintet consists of Mark Moonrider, Big Bear, Vykin, Beautiful Dreamer, and Serifan. By all touching Mother Box and saying a magic word, they transform into Infinity Man.

Four-Armed Terror [Jimmy Olsen #136]

An Evil Factory creation, a stone-faced humanoid with a huge appetite for radiation that almost destroys Metropolis. ARRUK!!

119 CHILLIN’

Freeze Gun [Mister Miracle #14]

Media network run by Morgan Edge that employs Clark Kent, Jimmy Olsen, Newsboy Legion, and Laura Conway.

123 Gandy

TREE HOUSES

Glorious Godfrey

[Jimmy Olsen #133] “Veritable city hewn from the giant trees of a great forest,” the Outsiders’ home built and abandoned by the Hairies.

The Hairies

Gilotina

[Jimmy Olsen #134] “A new mobile, scientific society” of “wizards” whose Mountain of Judgment vehicle patrols the Wild Area.

[Mister Miracle #8] Female Furies member, one who did not sojourn to Earth with her teammates, who uses her hands as weapons.

The Hand of Stone 140 126

139 LONGHAIRS

[New Gods #2] Darkseid henchman Brola’s lethal appendage, which BRICKFIST resembles a fist melded with a brick, used against Orion.

[Forever People #3] Vainglorious agent of Apokolips and auburn-haired Adonis on our planet to recruit an army of Earthlings to JUSTIFIED serve Darkseid, using his evangelical-like, tent-revival oratory skills to persuade.

TO THE SOURCE!

[Jimmy Olsen #145] Brigadoom-created replica of a mythological half-eagle/ half-lion creature kept in a Scotland Yard vault in Trevor.

124 138 Habitat

Doc Gideon

127

GRIMTOWN

[Jimmy Olsen #135] A clone of Metropolis Police Officer Jim Harper, alias of 1940s Suicide Slum protector, the super-hero Guardian, GOLD REPLICA aided by the kid gang Newsboy Legion. The replica, also called the Golden Guardian, heads security at The Project, brandishing a badge-shaped shield.

BOOB TUBERS

[Forever People #9] City morgue attendant who uses an “electro-organic” REANIMATOR process attempting to reanimate human corpses.

KARATE CHOP!

[Forever People #1] “Most faithful to Darkseid” super-strong henchmen derivINFINITY FOES ing strength via gravity waves from heavy-mass galaxies.

CAT BIRD

[Jimmy Olsen #137] Yango pal and a part of the Outsiders motorcycle club, he DANDY MAN sports a Wild One-style cap and fur-fringed jacket.

125

GOODY BOYS

[Jimmy Olsen #133] Weapon brandished by Outsiders gang leader Yango that subdues Superman, a pistol device created by the Hairies. STUN GUN

[Mister Miracle #11] High-energy weapon brandished by one of Doctor Bedlam’s MOMKILLER Animates and used to incapacitate Scott Free’s Mother Box.

Galaxy Broadcasting [Jimmy Olsen #133]

[Mister Miracle #2] With helmets resembling insect heads, loyal troops under the command of the Apokolips elite, Granny Goodness.

[New Gods #7] The war between New Genesis and Apokolips that began HEAD QUARTERS when Steppenwolf kills Izaya’s wife, Avia. An apocalyptic conflict ensues, with countless deaths and massive destruction on both sides. Only the forging of the Pact ends hostilities, though that peace indeed proves fragile.

Newsboy Legion member known for his talkative nature and especially as the boy who cares for Angry Charlie, WORDSOME keeping his bug-eyed pet subdued by giving it Chiclet-shaped sedative tablets.

121 Galacti-Gun

[NG #7] Granny Goodness institution also called an orphanage, FREE HOME but is a military school that brutally trains youth for war.

[Mister Miracle #7] Locale in the city-planet of Apokolips presumably on the edge of its hemisphere that is permanently dark.

According to Scott Free, “a new top secret weapon that’s supposed to paralyze its target.” It is used to disable “Ears” Watson.

Gabby, Jr. [Jimmy Olsen #133]

129

Head-matron to her self-named “finishing school”/ orphanage which is actually a military academy that has ANYTHING BUT trained Scott Free and Barda. The elderly member of Darkseid’s court and initial Female Furies leader is a frequent antagonist to Mister Miracle and his wife.

Happyland

141

[Forever People #4] Desaad’s amusement park—actually a torture chamber with THE DAMNED innocent visitors and the Forever People as victims.

The Glory Boat [New Gods #6]

Organic Director transformed by Lightray into an enormous missile that kills Leviathan and the remaining Deep Six.

142 Harassers

[Mister Miracle #7] Commanded by Hoogin, vicious guards herding new LAND RATS arrivals to Granny Goodness Finishing School barracks.

J. Mason Hartwell [New Gods #10]

Metropolis District Attorney who tries to arrest Orion, Lightray, and Forager during the city’s “Bug” invasion.

144 FROM THE NECK UP

Impacter 157 143

[New Gods #7] A war machine as large as a planet, made by a Great GOD-MACHINE Clash antagonist to crash into an “enemy-captured sun.”

MAN IN CHARGE

Imploder-Field

[Mister Miracle #16] Professor Egg’s mechanism that reduces or enlarges live organisms, likely a figment of Shilo’s imagination.

Head [Mister Miracle #10]

Disembodied head that is leader of the World Protective League planning to extort Earth with a plague bomb.

[Forever People #7] Justifiers gizmo that destabilizes a cliff that breaks apart GROUNDBREAKER and threatens to crush Serifan and the Super-Cycle.

Highfather [New Gods #1]

Shunning life as a warrior persona, the former Izaya the Inheritor transforms into the pacifist leader of New Genesis, replete with shepherd’s staff (which is endowed with great power via The Source) and flowing robes. He is the father of Scott Free who, in a pact with Darkseid, trades his son for Orion, whom Highfather raises. He resides in Supertown.

161 Infinity Man

[Forever People #1] A terrifically-powered flying being, able to hold his own even LIFE FINITE with Superman, and when the Forever People all place their hands on Mother Box and say the magic word, “Taaru,” he exchanges with them physical space in our dimension. He is destroyed in battle against Devilance.

147 Insecto-Sapiens

Himon

[Mister Miracle #7] Resistance leader and expert escape artist who teaches Scott Free his craft and mentors a motley crew of young, MIRACLE TUTOR gifted denizens of Apokolips. He is a dreamer who “pioneered the calculating Mother-Box and linked it to The Source! I found the X-Element and pioneered the Boom-Tube!” He directs Scott Free to escape Apokolips and flee to Earth.

163 Inter-Gang

[Jimmy Olsen #133] Organized crime allies of Darkseid—Earth’s agents of HEAD QUARTERS Apokolips—led by Bruno “Ugly” Mannheim. Morgan Edge, Steel Hand, Badger, Sugar-Man, and Snaky Doyle are some of its members.

[Jimmy Olsen #145] Regressive gene reduction turns Jimmy Olsen into a tremendously strong, raging Neanderthal-like brute.

Hoogin [Mister Miracle #7]

149

Harasser squad leader demoted by Granny Goodness who was officer in charge when Scott Free escaped Apokolips. NOT HAPPY

Houseroy [Mister Miracle #6]

Bootlicking and abused servant of Funky Flashman who THE BOY was once under the employ of Colonel Mockingbird.

Hover-Saucer [Forever People #10]

Iron Mask [Jimmy Olsen #133]

165 Izaya the Inheritor

[New Gods #7] Later known as Highfather, this leader of New Genesis NEW GOD launched the Great Clash after wife Avia is killed by Steppenwolf. After countless deaths, in his despair over the futility of conflict, he rejects life as a warrior and wanders the desert to discover The Source and renew himself.

151 Jaffar

166

[New Gods #6] Deep Sixer killed by Orion who uses “mystic mutator” power to change Richard’s face into a metal death mask. MESSENGER

152 The Hunger Dogs

[The Hunger Dogs] Rage-filled slum dwellers of Armagetto who rise up in USED ABUSED revolt and force Darkseid into exile from his home world. Deviser of the Centri-Spin, subordinate of Virman Vundabar, who executes him when a scale model explodes.

164

Outsiders motorcycle gang chief who, with subordinate Vudu, use Dyna-Blast Cannons mounted on their bikes. METALFACE

Deemed one of the Scavengers’ “better investments” by one of its own, a hybrid hovercraft/flying saucer with extraction line. RADICAL!

Hydrik [Mister Miracle #5]

162

[Mister Miracle #16] Perhaps conjured up by a dreaming Shilo Norman, hominid insect creatures engineered by Professor Egg. EGG’S BUGS

148 Homo Disastrous 150

160

Infini-Beam

[Forever People #2] Power-burst discharged by Infinity Man’s hand destabilizing Mantis internal power levels, thus unable to recover. BUG ZAPPER

PEACEMAKER

CAVE MANIAC

BIG-LITTLE

145 159 Induction Rifle

Heggra

[New Gods #7] Queen-Mother of Apokolips, mother of Darkseid, and sister of Steppenwolf who arranges marriage between NO SWEET PIXIE Tigra and her son, after she orders Desaad to murder Darkseid’s first wife, Suli. Exacting revenge and ascending the throne, her son has Desaad poison Heggra.

146

158

167 Jammer

153 Jammer

INFERNAL

[New Gods #4] Apokoliptic device guarded by Inter-Gang that prevents detection by Mother Box of invaders from Darkseid’s world.

168

[Mister Miracle #15] Mr. Fez cohort who “makes things that jam anything” but FEZ FLUNKY is thwarted by Scott Free’s counter-jamming circuitry.

IMPERFECTION

154 Hyper-Sound Intensifiers 169 Jet-Bow Squad Hyper-Spinner 155 Jet-Copter 170 156 Immobilizer Gun [MM #1] Apparatus hidden in Scott Free’s gloves, it enables him to CHAINBUSTER break metal chains binding him to Steel Hand’s rocket.

3 MISSILE SHOT

[Jimmy Olsen #148] Mechanism adjoining Victor Volcanum’s flying gondola that emits hyper-soundwaves capable of destroying cities. TENTACLES

[Mister Miracle #7] Kanto’s firing crossbow squad dispensing missile-tipped arrows at Scott Free who is bound to a giant metronome.

[Mister Miracle #13] Vehicle used by Von Killowitz’s abominable snowmen to abduct Ted Brown and fly to the villain’s Himalayan lair. AIR KOMODO

[Forever People #4] Desaad’s hand-held device used to temporarily keep KEEP ASLEEP Beautiful Dreamer immobile when in Happyland.

171 Ray Johnson

Leviathan

[New Gods #3] Dedicated to caring for the Vietnam veteran, he’s the brotherDEVOTED in-law of invalid Willie Walker and Verna Johnson’s husband.

Verna Johnson [New Gods #3]

172 187 Lightray

[New Gods #1] Orion’s best friend and yet polar opposite in disposition, SMILING LAMB an always friendly and welcoming citizen of Supertown. Able to fly through space and vent energy blasts against adversaries as the New God who “governs the power of light” and able to manipulate and rearrange atoms.

Charged with attending to her paralyzed sibling Willie Walker, she lives with husband Ray in a “shabby district.” COMMITTED

173 Jude

[Jimmy Olsen #134] Elected captain of The Mountain of Judgment who sports GOING MOBILE a mane of shaggy blond hair and hipster chin beard.

Justifier Helmet [Forever People #3]

174

Given out at Glorious Godfrey rallies, armor brainwashing wearers to even become suicide bombers for Darkseid. BE FIERCE!

175 OMEGA MEN

Justifiers [Forever People #3]

Fanatical army devoted to Glorious Godfrey and the Anti-Life Equation, not dissimilar to Nazi Stormtroopers.

Kalibak the Cruel [New Gods #1]

176

Firstborn of Darkseid, son of Suli, half-brother to his greatest nemesis Orion, wielder of the Beta-Club, and SAVAGE called the “Scourge of Apokolips,” he engaged in cataclysmic battles with his sibling. In one clash, he is killed by Orion but later reanimated by his father.

177 Kanto, the Weapon-Master

Dave Lincoln [New Gods #1]

189 Loch Trevor Monster

[Jimmy Olsen #144] Loch Ness-type underwater monster created by the Evil BEASTIE Factory for terrorizing locals about the Scottish lake.

Harvey Lockman

SWIFT WORK

191 Lonar

[Forever People #5] Supertown resident who shuns the floating city and instead HORSEMAN explores remnants of the old gods scattered about the surface of New Genesis. The discoverer and befriender of wondrous war horse Thunderer.

The Lowlies

The Lump 193 178

[Mister Miracle #7] Inert, obese champion of the “Id Battleground” who spars DREAMER with Scott Free in Section Zero’s mental warfare games.

Lupek [Jimmy Olsen #142]

LAUGHER

Felix MacFinney 195 180

[Jimmy Olsen #144] A seemingly benign Scotsman, maker of a sonar device to MacFINK lure the Loch Trevor beast, he’s actually an Inter-Gang agent.

Ginny MacFinney

Sycophantic officer under Virman Vundabar’s command who prematurely applauds the (foiled) destruction of Scott Free.

197 Ian MacGregor

[Jimmy Olsen #144] The first to lay eyes on the Loch Trevor monster, his Y’RR TRULY speed boat is destroyed when it crashes into the creature.

182 Mad Harriet

Ill-fated protégé of Himon who complains he can’t put together a Mother Box and later betrays his mentor. BETRAYER

183 ROOKIE FISH

199 Madame Evil Eyes 184 Magna-Car 200

Apparently a Deep Six replacement for “brother Pyron” who holds a sai-like melee weapon and sports a helmet.

[Mister Miracle #14] Seeking wealth and immortality as head of the Satan STINKEYE Club, with seemingly fake ability to destroy with a glance.

[New Gods #1] Aging insurance exec who is held prisoner on Apokolips and rescued by Orion. Poses as O’Ryan’s Mob dealmaker. FAMILY MAN

185 Lashina

198

[Mister Miracle #6] Coiffed in wild green hair and armed with Power Spikes and a lunatic demeanor, she is a formidable Female Fury. HAHAHAH!

Kurin [Who’s Who: Definitive Directory of DC Univ. #6]

Victor Lanza

196

[Jimmy Olsen #144] Professed to be Felix MacFinney’s daughter, she’s, in fact, an Inter-Gang operative attempting to kill Flipper Dipper. BONNIE LASS

Klepp [Mister Miracle #5]

Kreetin [Mister Miracle #9]

194

Werewolf, Count Dragorin companion from the miniplanet Transilvane who gets roughed up by Superman. WOLFMAN

Hand-device designed by Desaad and used by Darkseid to render Izaya unconscious during a hunting excursion.

[Mister Miracle #13] Pseudo-religious “Master of the Howling Winds” alias of Nazi criminal Von Killowitz, lording an apemen kingdom. SCHWEINHUND

181

192

[The Hunger Dogs] Dismal, impoverished slave-inhabitants of the Ecumenopolis—that’s “city planet”—of Apokolips, ripe for revolt. DREGS

Killing-Gloves [New Gods #7]

King Komodo

190

[New Gods #1] Youngest of the Darkseid kidnap victims, likely a student, COOL HARV who assists Orion as a member of O’Ryan’s Mob.

City police official who engages prisoner Kalibak and offers his office for New Genesis-Apokolips peace talks. FACILITATOR

179

188

Among the “test humans” spirited to Apokolips yet saved PRIVATE EYE by Orion, he’s a special investigator and police ally.

[MM #7] Though part of the Apokolips elite, Darkseid’s personal GENTLEMAN assassin has an appreciation for adversary Scott Free’s daring-do. He also has an honor code. Student of the Renaissance, he dons fancy medieval garb, including cap and cape, affecting a Shakespearean appearance.

Commissioner Matt Kiernan [NG #11]

186

[New Gods #6] Gargantuan huge-tusked monster whale mutated by the Deep Six endowed with an “insatiable will to destroy.” BIG FISH

[Mister Miracle #7] Anti-grav car Barda and Scott Free hijack to avoid detection on Apokolips from Para-Demon patrols. NO MEGA-ROD

[Mister Miracle #6] Female Fury member who is armed with multiple lethal KINKY GIRL lashes strapped about her fetishistic leather body suit.

Magna-Lift [Mister Miracle #5]

Helicopter-like vehicle flown by Vundabar minions to transport a captured Barda to bait Scott Free to follow.

Metron 216 201

[New Gods #1] Of neither New Genesis or Apokolips, and yet both, he is ENIGMA the master of time, space, and infinity, riding the cosmos and timeways of existence on his Mobius Chair. Creator of the Boom Tube, he’s also a schemer manipulating people and events to serve his needs. He seeks to solve the mystery of The Source and he aids Scott Free’s escape from Apokolips.

WHIRLYBIRD

202 Magna-Target

[New Gods #8] “The most sinister space-trap of all,” an Apokolips LOST NOR WON weapon, from which savior Fastbak retrieves Esak.

Magnar

203

[Jimmy Olsen #147] Helmeted Supertown citizen who possesses MagnaForce, besting Superman fair and square in a tussle. BOOM TUBER

Micro-Mark

[The Hunger Dogs] Herald of a new age, an electronic chip of cataclysmic power that destroys New Genesis. A creation of Esak.

217 DOOMSDAY

Miniature Retro-Jets 218 204 Ugly Mannheim Mind-Force 219 Mantis 205 220 Missile-Thrower Mister Fez 206 Mark Moonrider 221 Mister Miracle/Scott Free 222 Mass-Director Unit 207 208 Master Scrambler Mobius Chair 223 Matter Threshold 209 Colonel Mockingbird 224 210 Matter-Transmitter Mokkari 225 Mike McCracken 211 Monitors 226 212 Inspector Robert McQuarrie Mother Box Mechan-Apes 227 213 214 Mega-Rod 228 Mountain of Judgment Mekkanoids 215 Mudgett 229 [Mister Miracle #1] Hidden device in Scott Free’s costume used to escape the ZOOOSH “Big Trap”—being chained to a rocket—set by Steel Hand.

[Jimmy Olsen #139] Inter-Gang’s assault unit chief who poisons the GANG BOSS Guardian, Jimmy Olsen, etc., with Pyro-Granulate.

[Mister Miracle #3] Psychic power of Doctor Bedlam that melds his “pure energy” form with an Animate to become embodied.

[Forever People #2] Vampiric insect-like member of the Apokolips elite who energizes in a coffin-like Power-Pod, with the POWER SUCKER Darkseid-given abilities to fly and absorb vast amounts of energy. He led a failed Earth invasion by the “bugs” of New Genesis (likely from whence he came).

[Mister Miracle #16] Maybe dreamed up by Shilo, a beetle-like “man-bug” BUG BOMB who launches three thorn missiles from its back shell.

[Forever People #1] Master of the Megaton Touch, energy beams which MEGATON MAN project out of his fingertips, an ability ranging from causing severe shock to liquefying rock. He is unofficial leader of the Forever People, the group’s serene center who professes a philosophy of non-violence.

[Mister Miracle #15] Responsible for the murder of Shilo Norman’s brother, he’s a fez-wearing crime boss scheming a huge robbery. JAM MAN

[MM #1] Son of Highfather and Avia, born on New Genesis and ESCAPE ARTIST raised on Apokolips, loving husband of Barda, onetime aero-troop warrior cadet trained in Granny Goodness’s Orphanage, devoted friend of Oberon, and professional performer (as an escape artist aided by his Mother Box), he is rivaled only by Darkseid in importance within the epic of the Fourth World. A relentless optimist, he represents life-affirming hope in the face of death itself.

[New Gods #1] In Darkseid and his elite’s absence, a machine that transmits orders to retain discipline on Apokolips. DISPENSER

[Forever People #4] Desaad’s unit distorting both visuals and sound of DISTORTER the captive Forever People and others in Happyland.

[New Gods #1] Vehicular device Metron travels through time and space upon. Created by discovery of the X-Element. COSMIC RIDE

[New Gods #7] Pre-Boom Tube mode of travel between Apokolips and New Genesis utilized during the Great Clash. RAW ENERGY

[MM #6] Deceased benefactor/employer of Funky Flashman GOOD MAN? and Houseroy, upon whose estate they reside.

[Jimmy Olsen #138] Evil Factory mechanism that sends the legion of FourTHRESHOLD! Armed Terrors to threaten a Metropolis nuclear meltdown. [Mister Miracle #10] World Protective League prisoner and All-Nations Agency operative rescued by Barda, who sabotages the Head’s complex.

[Jimmy Olsen #135] Head of the Evil Factory who, with partner Simyan, develops bizarre creatures by manipulating D.N.A. MOCKERY

FLIRT

[New Gods #5] Flying Supertown disciplinarians armed with tranquilBEAT BY A BRAT izer batons trying to catch Fastbak as he goads them.

[JO #145] Scotland Yard inspector, Trevor District, who shows Jimmy NO DOUBTER Olsen and pals the escaped Evil Factory-bred creatures. [Forever People #10] Covered in chrome-like metal, a stolen robot circus’s “lively complement” ordered by the Director to attack.

MERGER

[Forever People #1] Computing personal assistant device (invented by Himon) used by New Genesis folk. She appears SUPERCOMPUTER sentient and possessed of incredible abilities, coming in numerous varieties, including the Forever People’s cube, and Orion and Scott Free’s pocket versions.

DIABOLICAL

[Mister Miracle #4] Barda’s ever-present sidearm emits power blasts and POWER STICK affects gravity of adversaries, and propels her in flight.

[JO #135] Leviathan-sized vehicle riding the Zoomway, piloted MOBILE HOME by the Hairies, used as a traveling scientific society.

[New Gods #6, 1984] Array of weaponized robots, flying and otherwise, used to defend Apokolips in the automated era of Micro-Mark. MECH DOLLS

[Mister Miracle #12] Colonel Darby’s man-servant who accidentally shoots and kills the alien entity called Mystivac.

IDIOTIC TRY

230 Multi-Cube

Oberon [Mister Miracle #1]

[Mister Miracle #4] “Tiny, powerful, compact utility instrument” CABLE EJECTOR equipped with a laser that helps Scott Free escape.

231

Mungo [Mister Miracle #17]

Peppi Lamoko’s burly henchman who throws Shilo into an inferno, then slugged unconscious by Mad Merkin. KILL FREAK

244

Devoted, deeply sentimental, and occasionally crabby assistant to Scott Free (and, previously, to SAWED-OFF DRIP the original Mister Miracle), he is also a loyal and consistent voice of caution.

245 Omega Effect

[Forever People #6] Darkseid’s powerful beams emanating from his eyes BEAMS OF DARK which can destroy, resurrect, and even teleport.

232 Murder Machine Omega Guns 246 Mystivac 233 Omega Ray Bomb 247 234 Nerve Beams Orbital Plague Bomb 248 New Genesis 235 249 Organic Director Orion New Genesis Vaulters 250 236 [Mister Miracle #5] Elaborate conveyor belt apparatus created by Virman DEATH TRAP Vundabar to test Scott Free’s abilities to escape.

[Forever People #3] Weapons used by the Justifiers, shots from which, in one instance, are commandeered by Infinity Man. TURNABOUT

[Mister Miracle #12] Robotic foe of Scott Free controlled by a mankindhating, tiny alien who is mistakenly shot to death. MAROONED

[Forever People #3] Used by Justifier suicide bomber and capable of JERK IGNITER disintegrating Earth humans immediately.

[Forever People #3] Desaad’s hand-held device that causes the Forever FUN TOY People to cry out and be rendered unconscious.

[MM #10] Biological warfare weapon created by the World Protective League to extort money from nations. TINKER TOY

[New Gods #1] Home planet of Highfather, a world boasting a floating Supertown and pastoral surface, it is the HEAVENLY opposite of Apokolips. Populated by freedom-loving folk devoted to youth and worshippers of life, though below surface there live the “insect” colonies.

[New Gods #6] Mutated by the Deep Six, sea life that “computes RETURN TO SENDER and sends direction signals” to the Leviathan.

[New Gods #1] Titanic warrior of New Genesis, son of Tigra and Darkseid, born of Apokolips, raised by Highfather, THE TIGER wielder of the Astro-Force, and possessor of a Mother Box that hides his savage inner identity, he is destined to end the Super-War by battling his nemesis Darkseid in the shadow of Armagetto. Greatest of the New Gods, he is companion to Bekka and savior of his rescued mother, who is sheltered on New Genesis.

[NG #7] In the “Age of Heroes” during the Great Clash, many IMMORTALS of these fall after throwing their Destructi-Poles.

The New Gods [New Gods #1]

237

After the Old Gods die in a great cataclysm that rips asunder their world into two—New Genesis THE CANVAS and Apokolips—there is born the successors, fantastically-powered beings molded to resemble the dead gods and yet a race entirely new. Total opposites of one another, the planets exist in a dimension separate from Earth.

251 The Outsiders GREASY RIDERS

238 The Newsboy Legion

[JO #133] Reincarnation of a World War II-era group of boys KID GANG from Suicide Slum in Metropolis who banded together to help the Guardian, a masked vigilante. With Flippa-Dippa, the new crew features sons of the original group who now assist Superman’s pal, Jimmy Olsen.

Night-Time

240

Overlord

252

[Mister Miracle #2] Computer-creator of the X-Pit and Scott Free tormentor, revealed as far different than it seems. GRANNY’S BOY

253 Dr. Packard

[Jimmy Olsen #146] Scientist who engineers the genetic structure of Arin, DOCTOR DAD and then raises and trains the Armored Man.

239 Para-Demons

[Mister Miracle #7] Region of Apokolips that is permanently nightime near Grayborders and/or abutting Long Shadows. CLANKING HORRORS

[Jimmy Olsen #133] Subterranean “drop-out society,” who traverse the Wild Area as a free-wheeling motorcycle gang led by Iron Mask.

[New Gods #1] Ferocious sentries (of differing appearance) who patrol the skies over Apokolips, ever on lookout.

Detective Nolan [New Gods #5]

254

BATTLIN’ BAT MEN

Paralyzer Weapon 255 The Normals 241 Paranoid Pill 256 242 Shilo Norman 257 Pedi-Jets Penetrator Beam The O’Ryan’s Mob 258 243 Badly injured officer who tells Terrible Turpin about a BEAT COP cosmic gang war while recuperating in the hospital. [Jimmy Olsen #136] Human clones raised in The Project and tutored to become Hairies—“Step-Ups” with “hair-trigger” minds.

[Forever People #7] Voice-activated by Serifan, Super-Cycle’s automatic ZEALOT FIGHTER cannon that fires into an armed phalanx of Justifiers. [Mister Miracle #3] Tablet dissolving into noxious vapor turning occupants of Chandler Towers into crazed paranoiacs. WOLF MAKER

TANK LIVES

[Mister Miracle #15] Young city teen—“tragic product of adversity”—who, MASTER MIRACLE after witnessing his brother’s murder, joins with Scott Free and Barda to become a “super-hero in training” as an escape artist.

[Jimmy Olsen #146] Arin, the Armored Man’s propulsion footwear hurling ROCKETSHOES him through space to a life of exile on an asteroid.

[New Gods #4] To uncover the infiltration of Apokolips on Earth, Orion and his allies create a fake gangster group. GANGBUSTERS

[Jimmy Olsen #135] Apparently a teleportation mode linking the Evil Factory in Scotland to The Project near Metropolis. INVASIVE TOOL

Peppi Lamoko [Mister Miracle #17]

Brother Pyron 274 259

[New Gods #6] Deep Sixer with a flame-throwing Manta Sled who KURIN REPLACES dies with his brethren in the Glory Boat incident.

Manager of the “Murder Lodge,” his mistake leads to a confrontation with the Tricky Trio and arrest. INHOSPITABLE

260

Radion Bombs [Forever People #1]

Phase Out [Forever People #2]

Process (maybe connected to the Electron Road) of

CLEARING OUT Super-Cycle inter-dimensional travel set by Big Bear.

Planetary Fire-Pits [Mister Miracle #9]

275

Formulated by Darkseid himself and rigged to explode when Superman saves Beautiful Dreamer. OUTSPEED

261 276 The Raiders

[Jimmy Olsen #133] Para-military group in the Wild Area who patrol the RED FOX TO BLUE PATROL forest, confront intruders, and avoid The Outsiders.

Massive “raging, hissing infernos” dotting the surface of Apokolips, the perennial source of the planet’s energy. BONFIRES

Repello-Beam 262 Power Spikes 277 Prime One 263 278 Revelationists Goody Rickels Probe Six 279 264 Rocky the Champ The Project 280 265 Sagutai 281 266 Promethean Galaxy 282 San Diego Five-String Mob Promethean Giants 267 Satan Club 283 268 Proton Blaster 284 The Scavengers Protonoid 269 Scrapper Troopers 285 270 Pseudo-Men 286 Scrapper, Jr. Pseudo-Unit 287 271 Screamer 288 Seagrin 272 Psycho-Fuge The Sect Pyro-Granulate 289 273 [Jimmy Olsen #146] Defense mechanism that halts the Whiz Wagon and renders all the passengers unconscious.

[Mister Miracle #6] Female Fury Mad Harriet’s hand accessory, a brass HAIRRY PINS knuckle-like weapon with lethal metal pricks.

STRIKING!

[Forever People #3] Glorious Godfrey and his ilk using “inventive selling” to BE JUSTIFIED! pitch Anti-Life with false modesty and religious fervor.

[New Gods #9] A leader in the Colony, he is Forager’s mentor and friend who is ritually sacrificed by the All-Widow. WISE BUG

[Jimmy Olsen #139] Comedian Don Rickles doppelgänger who works in the Galaxy Broadcasting research department.

[Jimmy Olsen #144] Exploratory team that disappears in The Project’s TORN PHOTO early days, though evidence of a lost world is found.

FLASHY & CUTE

[Forever People #1] Pro boxer whose complaints leave Clark Kent yearnCHAMPION WHINER ing for Superman to not be a “minority of one” on Earth.

[Jimmy Olsen #135] Enormous Federal scientific complex devoted to D.N.A. research and experimentation, hidden in a GOOD FACTORY vast underground preserve in a mammoth cave below Metropolis. Home to the D.N.Aliens, including Dubbilex, the Scrapper Troopers, The Guardian, and others.

[Forever People #5] Massive robot equipped with sword blades and flamethrowing fingers that spars with Sonny Sumo, who wins. DEATH DEALER

[New Gods #5] At the universe’s edge, the “Place of the Giants” beside SOURCE’S EDGE the unbreakable Final Barrier. Beyond is The Source.

[New Gods #5] Fused to star clusters, with billion-year heartbeats, living colossuses drift in defeat at universe’s end. FAILED ATTEMPTS

[Jimmy Olsen #146] Cannon used by Simyan to try and disable the transZONGO! formed Jimmy Olsen, who’s now a berserk troglodyte.

[JO #144] Apokolips agents working as a musical group (with WEIRD MUSIC sixth string, Barriboy) in the Cosmic Carousel disco.

[Mister Miracle #14] A “phony” front for Madame Evil Eye’s hijack ring, which traps Scott Free, Oberon, and “Ears” Watson. SATAN’S LAIR

[Forever People #10] Run by the Director, a criminal, well-equipped WORLDWIDE “super-firm, geared to peddle super-merchandise.”

[Jimmy Olsen #147] Huge Supertown robot servant which Superman mistakes for an Apokolips invader during his visit. HARMLESS HELPER

[Jimmy Olsen #136] Miniature soldiers (who join in on multiple adventures) bred at The Project from Scrapper, Jr.’s D.N.A. MINI-TROOPS

[Jimmy Olsen #147] Humanoid robots serving Victor Volcanum as a SERVITORS security-labor force helping him thrive in splendor.

[Jimmy Olsen #133] Pugnacious, streetwise member of the Newsboy STREETFIGHTER Legion, namesake son of the original team member.

[Mister Miracle #2] Robot-like replica of Scott Free (made by the “factory people”) which mimics the real Mister Miracle’s moves. FOLLOWER

[New Gods #3] Quarry of gangster Sugar-Man as the two engage in a street gunfight, a hit likely ordered by Badger. LAST SCREAM

[Forever People #5] To sate Desaad’s sadistic need for the pain of others, FEAR FEAST a device reading fright that then creates fear waves.

[New Gods #4] “Gentle warrior” New God killed by the Deep Six, WATER GOD whose body is sent to the Source by his Mother Box.

[Jimmy Olsen #139] Incendiary substance Ugly Mannheim poisons Goody Rickels, Guardian, and Jimmy Olsen with.

[Forever People #8] “Horrible Satanic band of evil worshippers” is actually Darkseid, Desaad, and other Apokoliptians. LOST EQUATION

INTERNAL COMBUSTION

290 Section Zero

Sonic-Stimuli [New Gods #2]

[Mister Miracle #7] Run by Granny Goodness and where few return. REALM OF THE ID There Scott Free battles the Lump in the Mind-World.

291 306 Sound Shark

Serafin/Serifan

[Forever People #1] Youngest of the Forever People, who embraces a cowboy affectation, and whose hat-band loops hold power- CARTRIDGE COWBOY ful Cosmic Cartridges. A sensitive teen who despairs when apparently abandoned, he retrieves his own beloved Mother Box from Sonny Sumo’s ancestors.

292

[New Gods #6, 1984] Flying surveillance device patrolling the slums of BEEP-BEEPER Apokolips to detect “objects foreign to the area.”

Now deceased Flying Finback beaten by Orion

WINGED FISH alongside his Deep Six crew during a battle.

293

[New Gods #1] One of Orion’s Earth allies, a “simple, but worried” secretary who joins in on the O’Ryan’s Mob ruse. PLAYING BONNIE

294 Shark-Seed

As Slig demonstrates to Orion, the Deep Six can

Special Powers Force

295

Sonny Sumo’s wrestling manager who stages a private bout between Sonny and robot Sagutai.

308

Spawn [New Gods #5]

SEA MONSTERS mutate the smallest of sea creatures into monsters.

[New Gods #5] Knife-carrying humanoid shark who stands guard, GOOD WORKER created by the mutating abilities of the Deep Six.

Harry Sharp [Forever People #5]

307

The Source

[New Gods #1] Located past the Final Barrier, it is the mysterious divine place, as ancient as the Old Gods and where SIMPLY DIVINE go the souls of the valiant of New Genesis. It communicates its directives and prophecies through the Uni-Friend’s handwriting on the Wall and, from there, to Highfather’s Wonder-Staff and to all Mother Boxes everywhere.

Shaligo [New Gods #6]

Claudia Shane

BIG WAGERER

310 SMALL PERSON

[New Gods #6] Shipwrecked industrialist and WWII vet who cracks IMMORTALS under pressure, yet survives the Glory Boat incident.

Stanga, the Hermit [New Gods #7]

Associate of Vykin the Black summons the future Forever Person for a task in underground caves of New Genesis.

[Mister Miracle #1] Inter-Gang chief who directs Thaddeus Brown’s assassination, he’s ultimately thwarted by Scott Free, who has him arrested.

[New Gods #6] Farley’s daughter and Richard’s sister caught in the middle of a generational feud, then saved by Orion. ASTRO-LIFTED

ASSAULT TEAM

313

[Mister Miracle #6] Female Fury whose stomping ability is enhanced with FURIOUS FEET heavy matter boots and outrageous enthusiasm to crush.

315

[Mister Miracle #1] Steel Hand underling controlling the arm-wrestling robot that tests the boss’s strength. He’s overcome by Scott Free. PRESSURE UP

[New Gods #3] Inter-Gang gunman who kills Screamer and later meets BACKFIREARM his final fate when the Black Racer chases him down.

STUNNER

[Jimmy Olsen #135] Mokkari partner who helps run the Evil Factory THE BEARDED ONE (a.k.a. Brigadoom) to create malevolent creatures.

317

[New Gods #11] Darkseid’s first wife and mother of Kalibak, disavowed by Queen Heggra and poisoned by Desaad at her command. SORCERESS

303 318 Sonny Sumo

[New Gods #4] First of the Deep Six to die at the hand of Orion, he is able to disintegrate items with just a touch. MUTATOR FISH

304 Solar Phone

JUDO CHOP!

[Forever People #8] Head device intended to extract the Anti-Life Equation from Billion-Dollar Bates’ brain by Desaad & company. PLUCKY

[New Gods #2] The electrified weapon used against Orion by Brola, HISS & STUN Darkseid’s loyal and ever-ready “Fighting Arm.”

Slig

311

[New Gods #7] The uncle of Darkseid and brother of Heggra whose casual GREASY RIDERS murder of Avia triggers a cataclysmic war between New Genesis and Apokolips. He is finally killed by vengeful Izaya on the field of battle.

[New Gods #6] Conscientious objector accused of cowardice by his TRANSCENDENT father, yet sacrifices his own life to protect his family.

[Forever People #1] Rifle-like weapons employed by Darkseid’s agents to fire powerful Sigma-Blasts at Superman.

309

[MM #5] Apokolips warrior officer elite corps from where comes Big Barda and her Female Furie Battalion. RUTHLESS RAIDERS

296 Farley Sheridan Steel Hand Lynn Sheridan 297 312 Steppenwolf 298 Richard Sheridan Stimulus Hat Shock Troops 299 Stompa 314 300 Shock-Prod Stuka Sigma-Gun 301 Sugar-Man 316 302 Simyan Suli [Jimmy Olsen #139] Henchmen of Inter-Gang chief Ugly Mannheim who take on Jimmy Olsen and the Guardian.

305

Waves emitted from Desaad’s Fear Machine that result in creating emotional turmoil for victims. STRIKING FEAR

[Jimmy Olsen #137] Hairies device that collects interstellar radio-signals FAR OUT! and converts them to mental musical images.

[Forever People #4] Heir to the Mother Box, modern-day samurai, arena fighter MEDITATIVE with the power of Wound Rejection, and savior of the Forever People, he is sent via Omega Effect to live out his days in medieval Japan.

Super-Cycle

319

[Forever People #1] The Forever People’s trike-like vehicle boasts defensive weaponry as Big Bear helms it down the Electron Road. SEATS FIVE!

Super-War [Forever People #2]

“Trigger Finger” 335 320

[Jimmy Olsen #142] Murderer of Patrolman Jim Harper discovered by the POETIC JUSTICE Newsboy Legion and then killed by Inter-Gang.

Cosmic conflict between Apokolips and New Genesis with Earth as a new battleground, which COSMIC INVASION! simultaneously breaks the The Pact—with Scott Free’s escape from Apokolips— and Darkseid’s Anti-Life Equation quest hidden in the minds of Earth humans.

321

Swarming Maggots [The Hunger Dogs]

337

Invasive Apokoliptian creatures quite literally eating the

THE NEW AGE planet of New Genesis “in a spree of morbid devastation.”

Supertown [Forever People #1]

Deep Six monstrosity is stripped of Apokolips “taint” CALLER by Lightray’s atom manipulation to do his bidding.

Uncle Willie

Method of teleportation used by Darkseid to save SKY SNATCHED Brola during the Master of Apokolips’ foray to Earth.

Terror-Bats [New Gods #8]

326 Unicorn

THEN TO EARTH

Huge artillery weapon surreptitiously brought to New BIG BERTHA Genesis in a failed attempt to shoot down Supertown.

328

Battle Horse freed by Lonar from suspended animation while exploring ancient New Genesis ruins. WAR BEAST

329

Tigra [New Gods #7]

Nondescript son of the original Newsboy Legion teammate sharing the same Christian name.

331

Vertigo Grenade [Forever People #4]

330 Vudu REGULAR KID

By pushing a stud in the transparent X-Pit case, Scott Free

344

Video Crystal [Mister Miracle #14]

346

[Jimmy Olsen #133] Iron Mask subordinate with Rastafarian-like head get-up, he’s a motorcycle rider with The Outsiders. OUTFLANKED

347 Virman Vundabar

[Mister Miracle #5] Fascinated with 19th century Prussian military GRANNY’S PRIDE culture, he is a ruthless military leader in Darkseid’s elite who is constantly hoping to finish off Scott Free in some elaborate trap.

332

Too little too late, the Evil Factory caretakers try to stop “caveman” Jimmy Olsen with this to no avail. END OF EVIL

Victor Volcanum [Jimmy Olsen #147]

Transilvane [Jimmy Olsen #142]

Fanatical ruler of volcanic island of advanced technology, who dreams of world domination.

Dabney Donovan-created miniature planet populatUNIVERSAL WORLD ed by Universal-type Hollywood movie monsters.

Tricky Trio [Mister Miracle #17]

[NG #6, 1984] To the dismay of many, even Darkseid (who set the FEAR RULES policy), efficient machines are making warriors obsolete on Apokolips, in this new age of “buttons, dials, and foul chemicals.”

A television device inserted into the mouth of a SNAKE TV serpent-like figurine used to observe Scott Free.

X-PIT ANGUISH unleashes an electro-shock cycle that incites great pain.

333

DIG DIS, TOMMY!

343 Universal Automation 345

Torment-Circuit [Mister Miracle #2]

Tranqui-Gas [Jimmy Olsen #146]

342

Cannisters thrown by Happyland guards causing dizzying “violent inertia” on the Forever People. SPINNING PEEPS

Second wife of Darkseid and mother of Orion, who is TIGER’S MOM held captive by the former and freed by the latter.

Tommy, Jr. [Jimmy Olsen #133]

DASHED MAN

[New Gods #7] Disembodied moving hand with finger that writes out, in flaming letters, messages from the Source in the Chamber.

[Jimmy Olsen #145] The horned-horse of mythology is recreated by the Evil Factory and captured by Scotland Yard.

Thermo-Bolt Machine [FP #6]

Thunderer [New Gods #5]

340

341 Uni-Friend

Roving Apokolips space beasts with blasting power, made to pursue and kill (once threatening Fastbak). SPACE TRAP!

327

[Jimmy Olsen #139] Starship that captures Clark Kent in a Dimension Trap GALAXY STRANGE taking him through space, where he meets Lightray. [Forever People #2] Security guard, living in the slums with nephew Donnie, who is bewitched by Beautiful Dreamer.

Tele-Ray [New Gods #2]

338

[NG #5] Derby-wearing, tough Metropolis police sergeant who, against woeful odds, gets in an epic slug-fest I AM THE LAW with Kalibak and nearly dies, though he ultimately does thwart the “baddie.”

U.F.O. 339 324

Great Clash phase reaching an epic scale of cosmic dimensions, in part by utilizing Metron’s methods. DEADLY RAIN

325

Deep Six member with a Whirling Axe, he’s trounced

322 Daniel “Terrible” Turpin

Techno-Active [New Gods #6]

Techno-Cosmic War [New Gods #7]

Trok [New Gods #6]

FEEL THE BITE by Orion and then killed in the Glory Boat incident.

Glittering, beautiful city floating over New Genesis, home of peace-loving Highfather and his people. FUTURECITY

323

336

Trixie Magruder

[Forever People #9] Lively if elderly former carny girl/flapper hosting séances, who has the Forever People as boarders. OLD MAGPIE

348 BALLOONIST

Vykin the Black 349 334

[Forever People #1] Once an underground dweller on New Genesis, now ATTUNED TO MOM member of The Forever People, the team’s Mother Box is in his care. He is a Finder who can detect trace atoms of items no longer in an area and he possesses Magna-Power, the ability to project magnetic energy.

Criminal threesome (Della the Dinosaur, Mad Mirkin, Little Bullets), almost-victims of Murder Lodge. RESEMBLANCE

350 Sgt. Willie Walker

World Protective League

[Mister Miracle #7] Current living entity that becomes The Black Racer, ONE OF MANY a completely paralyzed Vietnam combat veteran cared for by sister Verna and her husband, Ray Johnson. “One of many… who make the one entity,” becomes his cosmic armored skiing alter-identity when summoned.

War-Staff [New Gods #7]

358

[MM #10] Global protection racket led by the Head, able to launch rockets carrying bio-warfare chemicals. BIG BLASTED

359 X-Element

[New Gods #7] Discovered by Himon and perfected by Metron, it is BIG BOOMER the basis for the Boom Tube and Mobius Chair.

351 X-Latitude

Weapon of Izaya which he wielded through the Great Clash, though rejected its “way” and from its smashing INHERITANCE came the Uni-Friend. Today, Highfather brandishes the Staff as does a shepherd.

360

[Mister Miracle #10] The World Protective League’s mysterious location, where the Boom Tube landed Scott Free and team. NOWHERESVILLE

352 “Ears” Watson The X-Pit 361 Weldun 353 Yango 362 Whiz Wagon 354 363 Z-Ray Wild Area 355 Zep 364 356 Wonderful Willik 365 The Zoomway Wonder-Staff 357 [Mister Miracle #14] Murder Lodge kidnap victim and “top hood” paraSTATUE STIFF lyzed by a Freeze Gun fired from a hole in the wall.

[Mister Miracle #9] One of Himon’s ill-fated youths whose wrist band circuitry can negate the power of an anti-grav unit. CAN DO ANYTHING

[Jimmy Olsen #133] Flying vehicle—“a miracle car”—navigated by a ComCRAZY EAGLE puti-Pilot, equipped with magnetic repulsion, and financed by Galaxy Broadcasting. It’s used by Jimmy Olsen and the Newsboy Legion. [Jimmy Olsen #133] Area inhabited by the Outsiders and Raiders and home to Habitat, all set in a mysterious locality.

[Jimmy Olsen #133] Bearded member of The Outsiders who incapacitates Superman with a Green K “Paralyzer Rod.”

WILD RUMOR

KEEPER OF THE CODE

[Jimmy Olsen #135] Pistol-like apparatus tranquilizing mini-clones of PUT ’EM ON HOLD Superman, Jimmy Olsen, and the Newsboy Legion. [Mister Miracle #9] Humble youngster under Himon’s guidance who uses a Computo-Stylus to draw. Is killed by Willik.

[Mister Miracle #9] Armagetto district protector on a mission to find BUTCHER Himon, killing his prey’s “chicks,” but dies violently. [New Gods #1] Highfather’s shepherd staff in contact with The Source which can summon Fastbak to perform.

[Mister Miracle #2] Built and guided by Overlord, an elaborate trap Granny EX-PIT Goodness set for the demise of Scott Free and Oberon.

SCRIBBLER

[New Gods #6] Wild Area road traversed by The Outsiders and the DRAG-STRIP Whiz Wagon, as well as the Mountain of Judgment. [below] A 1960s collage, showing more of Kirby’s inventiveness. Look closely, and you’ll spot elements from a Johnson fishing reel ad, making up the vehicle the astronaut is piloting.

WAR STAFF NO MORE

BOOM TUBE

BUZZING IN THE

FIRST WORLD Kirby’s initial tenure on the Fourth World can be broken up into distinct eras, of only a few months each. A lot took place in each short span of time, and the effects reverberated for years afterward, finally culminating in a seismic event more than a decade after it began. Here, Mark Evanier, Steve Sherman, and others (including Jack himself) offer behind-the-scenes recollections of the evolution of the Fourth World series.

THE INITIAL VINCE COLLETTA-INKED ISSUES Jimmy Olsen #133-139 New Gods #1-3 Forever People #1-3 Mister Miracle #1-3

The Great One Is Here!

his new series was going to go far beyond anything Jack, or anyone else, had produced in comics up to that point. He was realistic when asked whether he felt the Fourth World would appeal to younger readers, who were as likely to pick up a copy of Little Lulu or Archie as a super-hero comic at their local newsstand: “Of course, it’s a problem. I know I might fail at it, but I’m trying to make it a universal thing if I can. That’s a challenge in itself. It’s a heavy subject—the god stuff always was. I’m trying to put something into it to give it an affinity to the times themselves. I feel these are times when that kind of thing is felt. These are times when we’re all operating on the edge of holocaust, apocalypse, and everybody is living with the bomb. It’s a Strangelove kind of time, so I felt that the characters might reflect that sort of thing. There’s the problem of making all your characters different. There’s the problem of making them reflect everything that is good or bad inside of us— our weaknesses and our strengths, and our potential for good and evil. It’s enormous. I’m trying to get all that across in an entertaining sort of way. Of course I can’t do it all in three or four issues. At Marvel it took five years, and my problem was that I couldn’t do a simple story—I had to create an instant world in each magazine; an instant world with everything in it to get the ball rolling. Say, if I had done a foreign intrigue story—just a story, say, of a stolen diamond 88

Collage used in Jimmy Olsen #134.

or a stolen national secret of some kind—the hero would have to go after it and there would be a lot of gimmickry and a lot of shooting. Yet to have an individual story, you’d establish a single character. You wouldn’t know where he came from, or what he was really like. You might have to wait out an entire series of books until you really knew anything about him. I could’ve gone that route, but I was forced to go the other way. I’m coming in from the other end. I’m coming in with the whole ball of wax, which I have to unravel. I could’ve come in with just one character and developed his friends, but from what I’ve done here, you know everybody. You know where they came from. You don’t know exactly what kind of world it is, but you know it isn’t like Earth. You don’t know what kind of powers they have, but you know they have powers. You know there’s a war going on between good and evil. You’ve got that all in one issue. What I have to do is separate the individual action from the mass action. In other words, there might be an adventure with just Darkseid or one of the Forever People, but you’ll know them. You’ll know what kind of people they are from the first issue.” Jack Kirby interviewed for Train Of Thought #5, 1971

SPRING 1970–JANUARY 1971 (August 1970–May 1971 On-Sale Dates)

By October “Darkseid is a man you will never see; 1970, house Darkseid runs our world. Highfather runs our ads champiworld. These two men run our world; you’ll oning “The never see who they are. I put them together in Magic of two individuals. A part of our society runs this Kirby” were appearing world and they run it for good or evil. The evil across the side will harm us, the good side of it will help DC Comics us. So far, we’ve been skirting in the middle and line, heraldmaking out. ing the first “The New Gods went into my feelings about issues of The Forever the world around me. There’s an element of truth in that.” People, The Jack Kirby interviewed by Leonard Pitts, Jr. circa 1986 for Conversations with the Comic Book Creators New Gods, and Mister Miracle. Superman’s Pal, Jimmy of his past association with Stan Lee. Everything was riding on the Olsen #134 (Jack’s second issue) went on sale that month, featuring Fourth World becoming a hit. the first appearance of the Fourth World’s main villain Darkseid. Unfortunately, things hit a speed bump right out of the gate. In In December, Forever People an attempt to keep the title’s mainstay characters “on-model,” artist #1 and New Gods #1 were pubAl Plastino was utilized to alter Kirby’s depictions of Superman and lished. January 1971 set the Jimmy Olsen throughout Jack’s first stories. Face alterations marred final Fourth World pillar in Kirby’s work throughout his run on the Olsen title (and also within place, when Mister Miracle #1 Forever People #1, which guest-starred the Man of Steel), though it was published the same month was artist Murphy Anderson who later performed the majority of Marvel not so coincidentally head changes. released Fantastic Four #108, 1970’s Newfangles #35 stated, “Al Plastino redrew Superman’s using Kirby’s original rejected face throughout Kirby’s Jimmy Olsen story to make Supie look like Fantastic Four #102 story [left]. the accepted version.” That didn’t go unnoticed throughout fandom. DC, at that early stage, did little to foster Kirby’s original “Jack handed in his first Jimmy Olsen issue and a few others, and I vision for Superman put forth believe [Vince] Colletta inked two Olsens and the first Forever People in Forever People #1. In an unrebefore DC looked at it and said, ‘My God, Superman looks all wrong.’ lated move, the character was So on the first two issues I think, and Forever People #1, Al Plastino depowered by Dennis O’Neil was brought in to repaste things. Thereafter, Colletta inked the book in the Superman book, and we without inking the Olsen or Superman heads, and Murphy Anderson saw no sign of Darkseid and finished them up. Part of the problem company there, or in Action was that Colletta’s style was so different Comics, other than Morgan Edge cameos. Instead, Jack’s Fourth from Anderson’s. If Anderson had inked World ties were relegated to the second-tier Superman titles. In May the whole comic, I don’t think anyone 1971, Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane #111 was published, with a would have noticed. Or if Wally Wood, non-Kirby story that included his Jimmy Olsen concepts, showing a who wanted to ink all of Jack’s DC work, little openness to incorporating Kirby’s scheme into the larger DC had inked them, I think it would have universe. Much of the credit for that went to E. Nelson Bridwell. worked. Mike Royer inked a couple of issues and he made some slight adjust“…Nelson Bridwell… was an absolute fount of information. He ments to Jack’s Superman, and DC didn’t was a guy who could remember what was in every issue—that’s why deem it necessary to bring in Anderson. he was the guy who picked the reprints—but he also knew everything Examples of a Plastino Superman face [right] and about everything else... he was one of Jack’s big champions up there…. Anderson’s Jimmy and Clark changes [below]. he saved a lot of Jack’s stuff from being ruined. He’d call Jack, or he’d call me, and say, ‘They want to do this to Jack’s book,’ and I’d alert Jack. Nelson was our spy on the inside. He was the only guy really sympathetic to what Jack was doing up there, who had an integral position at that time.” Mark Evanier at the Jack Kirby Tribute Panel, held Sunday, July 27, 2014 at Comic-Con International: San Diego

Saving Face At that point, Kirby’s professional reputation was resting on proving that his success at Marvel Comics wasn’t a fluke, or because 89

“Jack found out about the retouching from Steve and myself. We read it in a fanzine over at Mike Royer’s house... I think it was in Don and Maggie Thompson’s fanzine, Newfangles. Jack was frustrated by it. Who wouldn’t be? It wasn’t just the embarrassment of being corrected, but it kind of put Jack on notice that he was expected to do work that looked like what DC was already publishing. He felt that it was not what he did best. I felt it was like stealing Willie Mays in his prime away from the Giants and making him play tennis. But I’ll tell you one thing: To Jack’s credit, he never stopped putting everything he had into his Jimmy Olsen and Superman drawings. A lesser artist might have slopped the main figures out, knowing that another guy in New York was going to redraw them. Jack didn’t do that.”

Mother Box hides Orion’s true Apokolyptian face.

Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Kirby Collector #6

The venerable fan, publisher, and comics scholar Richard Kyle once regaled me with his theories (formed from discussions with Jack himself) about how Kirby was conveying the theme of “saving face” in the Fourth World. Having just come off an unprecedented era of success and creation at Marvel Comics—but not receiving the credit he deserved for it—Kirby felt, according to Kyle, that he had lost face with the public, and needed desperately to regain it with his new DC Comics work. That theory was proven, said Kyle, by the number of times a face was altered or completely obliterated in New Gods. Richard, the conscientious objector in New Gods #6’s story “The Glory Boat,” had his face completely erased. Sonny Sumo restored his injured face through ancient mental practices, while the Forever People’s faces were disguised while trapped in Happyland. Forager hid his true human face behind his bug mask. Even Esak, at the conclusion in Hunger Dogs, had his disfigured face restored. And in The New Gods, Orion (a character Kirby identified with) relied heavily on his Mother Box to keep his true Apokoliptian face from showing on peaceful New Genesis [above], lest he be shunned there.

While there were some at DC who hated Jack’s art—Sol Harrison [left] was outspoken in that regard—corporate considerations seemed to be the underlying cause of the changes. “I caught a bit of flak from some fans because I had the Superman and Jimmy Olsen faces changed... We had to maintain the look of the Superman characters. We had licensing agreements all over the world, and they wanted—expected—a consistent look to the characters. It’s the same thing with Mickey Mouse. You don’t change the look no matter who the artist is. Mickey Mouse has to look like Mickey Mouse. Same thing with Superman… I think the fans want to see a consistent look to the characters. I don’t think it bothered most of the readers. They were more interested in the characters than they were the art. “I’m not saying the fans don’t care about the art. I’m just saying they want their characters to look the way they’re supposed to. Jack just didn’t draw a very good Superman, or at least keep him on model. And we had to keep him on model. I discussed this with Jack, and he agreed.” Carmine Infantino interviewed circa 2009 by Jim Amash for Carmine Infantino: Penciler, Publisher, Provocateur

“Orion is a hunter—a hunter and a killer; and he’s trapped in an environment he never even made. He was brought up on New Genesis. Can you imagine a son of Lucifer being brought up in paradise—with the urge to be a devil, and he can’t? Can you imagine a guy with that kind of frustration, a guy who’s his own monster? And he can’t go against his environment, and yet here inside himself is something even more basic and primitive and he can’t exercise it. Oh, he exercises it. He justifies it. In other words, he’ll exercise it in consistency with his own background. I think that too is part of life. I think that’s instinctive in the cop as well as the crook. In time, we become our own monster. There will be things you’ll be terribly ashamed of, and yet you’ve done it—and it’s on you like a scab. Orion was so ashamed of it that he had to use a Mother Box to build him a good face, so he could walk around New Genesis without any stares. If Orion was back on Apokolips, he’d be happy.”

At least one of those Superman licensees wasn’t crazy about DC’s alterations, however. “I remember the card games for Mattel... I actually drew the Superman emblems and Jack’s signature on those, and then they sent them to Mattel, and Mattel loved them, and Mattel had to send them back to DC for approval, and they came back with Murphy Anderson heads on them. And Mattel was furious; they said, ‘This is awful.’ DC insisted.” Mark Evanier interviews Steve Sherman on the “NEWS FROM me” blog (www.newsfromme.com) on August 6, 2020

As time went on, Kirby—at least in public—indeed came to accept the alterations as just a part of doing business with DC. “Nobody up there is used to me. In other words they’re afraid of what I’m going to do, and I don’t blame them. They know what Murphy Anderson can draw and Neal Adams and the rest, but they don’t know how I’m going to treat a thing like Superman, which has made maybe a hundred-twenty million dollars for them. Now I do it their way and I feel they were right.”

Jack Kirby interviewed by Barry Alfonso in 1975, for the fanzine Mysticogryfil

Despite the incessant desire to rework Jack’s likenesses, DC didn’t feel the need to redraw the face on the giant, jade-colored Jimmy Olsen in #135-136. Since the art wouldn’t have yet

Jack Kirby interviewed for Train Of Thought #5, 1971

been colored green when DC was making alterations, its a strange inconsistency to let those very large faces slide by untouched. Other than a heavier set of eyebrows, you can see a pretty accurate representation of what Jack’s Olsen looked like [right], inked by Colletta and unchanged, and decide for yourself if it needed changing. Speaking of Jimmy Olsen #136, Kirby worked into it what appear to be some sly digs at Marvel Comics and characters he created there. As mentioned, a genetically altered clone of Jimmy Olsen appeared as a giant, green destructive force (much like the Hulk). When the creature was subdued by being hosed down with liquid nitrogen, his dormant form, laying face down, was drawn to look exactly like the Silver Surfer (covered in a shiny coating “as strong as steel” according to Superman). The giant was sealed into a Cryonic Chamber with the code number 31570 on it [below], which may be a subtle reference to the date 3/15/70. Kirby officially called Stan Lee and quit Marvel Comics on March 6, 1970, so the significance of the 15th could be one of several things: either when Kirby officially began working for DC (thereby locking away his past association to the Surfer and Marvel), the day he drew the last page of Silver Surfer #18 (if he hadn’t completed it before calling Stan), or perhaps the day he first laid pencil to paper on Forever People #1 (the first DC story he drew). In the final panels of Jimmy Olsen #136, Kirby introduced the Four-Armed Terror, a twin of “The Unknown” from Thor

#136 (were those identical issue numbers coincidental?). Even earlier, Kirby had Jimmy punch out a Doctor Doom-lookalike in his first Olsen issue, and assume his role as leader of the Outsiders motorcycle gang. Taken along with the previously discussed “coincidental” Marvel imagery in New Gods #1, it would seem Jack was making a statement of some kind about his previous employment. Kirby wanted to have the main Fourth World titles be published monthly, to better move the pace of the epic, and avoid gaps between issues that might hurt its flow. But other than Jimmy Olsen, the issues were on a strict bi-monthly basis. Perhaps due to the slower release schedule, and knowing Kirby was an idea machine, Infantino pressed Jack to include as many new characters as possible. [MARK EVANIER:] “He did coax Jack into putting the Black Racer— which was supposed to be a standalone comic and continuity—into the Fourth World. He talked to Jack about tying his books more closely into other books and had Nelson Bridwell send memos with suggestions, but I don’t think Carmine pushed for anything in particular except Superman in the first Forever People and Deadman in New Gods [much later]…” And indeed, the final panel of New Gods #2 appears to have been relettered from what was originally planned for #3, with large verbiage about the impending Black Racer floating awkwardly in the allocated blank space. [MARK EVANIER:] “I think a couple times we told him to slow down, he was putting in new characters too fast, but he said, ‘Carmine wants this in.’” [STEVE SHERMAN:] “Yeah. Because he was putting stuff there hoping they would branch out into other books, you know? He was ready to take any of those characters and put them in their own book.” [MARK EVANIER:] “And he was also concerned that he had told Stan [Lee] some of the ideas, and he was afraid if he didn’t do them, get them in print first, Stan might remember some of them and do some of those ideas.” Mark Evanier interviews Steve Sherman on the “NEWS FROM me” blog (www.newsfromme. com) on August 6, 2020

[above] After his original cover idea for Jimmy Olsen #138 was rejected, Kirby submitted this layout for approval to Carmine Infantino. At left is the collage he created, as well as Neal Adams’ inked art, working over Jack’s finished pencils.

Thus, the Fourth World series was quickly populated with a colorful array of new characters, as documented in our previous 91

section. It was the single most concentrated act of character creation ever seen in comics.

When Kirby first switched companies, his longtime inker Joe Sinnott had inquired to see if DC would match Marvel’s inking rate, but they declined. So how did Vince Colletta, Jack’s other main Marvel inker, get assigned to ink all his new DC books?

“Jack had a number of different plans for how this material might expand. Even if he had done the ending of the Darkseid/Orion story, that didn’t mean many of the other books or other characters couldn’t be continued. One of the things he was trying to do at DC, in his own way, was to create a whole line. That was one of the reasons Jack felt he needed Steve and me around, in case the books took off and DC was willing to expand them into six or ten titles. There could have been a Lonar book, a Black Racer book, a Fastbak book and so on. Jack loved the idea that he might be supervising a whole line like that, written and drawn by others, and he could be a kind of idea man and creative supervisor.”

“Basically, Infantino wanted hands-on control and Colletta and his, as I’ve been told, staff of ‘wrists’ who worked for him were right there where Carmine could control the books. Colletta did it for a price which was less than the going rate, and they got what they paid for.” Mike Royer interviewed on February 6, 1995 by John Morrow

It wasn’t just a matter of Colletta showing Jack’s work at the competition prior to its publication. Colletta was known to meet deadlines at any cost, and that often meant omitting numerous details Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John that Kirby included in his pencils— Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6 something that only became clear when comparing the final inked At this early stage, all seemed pages to xeroxes or stats of Kirby’s right in the (Fourth) world for pencil work. In early 1971, his son Kirby. Initial sales figures indicatNeal helped him acquire a copier ed Jack had a hit on his hands. But [above] Examples of Colletta omitting Kirby’s details when inking Thor. from the company he worked for, the December 1970 issue (#42) of and Jack’s assistants began routinely photocopying his pencil art Don and Maggie Thompson’s fanzine Newfangles ominously opined, before it was mailed to New York to be inked, making it easy to dis“Reportedly Conan and Jimmy Olsen are selling strongly, but I can’t cover exactly where Colletta had been cutting corners. help wondering if speculators aren’t inflating figures; I keep hearing of people buying twenty and more copies of each title...”. “I really loved the art in Thor until I got a couple of good looks at Jack’s penciling and realized that the end-product was good in spite The Colletta Conundrum of Mr. Colletta, not because of him. It genuinely hurt my enjoyment of By mid-1971, Kirby discovered inker Vince those comics to realize how much of the work was being lost or flatColletta [right] had been showing Fourth World tened.” pages around Marvel’s offices before publication, Mark Evanier, Jack F.A.Q.s column, Jack Kirby Collector #43, Summer 2005 and was enlightened by his assistants Evanier The repeated unprofessional behavior on Colletta’s part caused and Sherman as to how Colletta cut corners and Kirby to insist on using a talented young artist named Mike Royer as omitted Jack’s penciling details in his inking. his new permanent inker. And from there, the entire series acquired a new sense of visual excitement. “The first time Steve and I went to DC, the first issues of New Gods, Forever People, Mister Miracle, and In The Days Of The Mob had already been turned in, and they were keeping them under lock and key. Carmine calls us into his office and closes the door, because the other people at DC were not allowed to know about the books. It was an absolute secret, what they were about. Julius Schwartz stopped us in the hall and said, ‘What’s this new Kirby book about?’ So we called Jack that night and said, ‘They’re doing a wonderful job keeping your books secret. They’re keeping them under lock and key at DC. Nobody knows what’s going on.’ The next day we’re up at the Marvel offices, and there are [Jack’s] pages pinned all over doors. Vince Colletta had been xeroxing them and taking them up there. And about three months later, Jack needed a page from Forever People that he’d already sent in for reference; this was before Jack got his copier. And we called DC and said, ‘Can you send out page two of Forever People #2?’ And they could not do it, so I called the secretary at Marvel, and she pulled it off the wall, xeroxed it, and mailed it to me.” Mark Evanier at the Kirby Tribute panel, held at Comic Con International: San Diego on July 19, 1997

[left to right] Kirby, Mark Evanier, and Carmine Infantino at the 1970 San Diego Con.

“We all have a kind of feeling that I think we’ve had for thousands of years, that there are higher beings somewhere. I think all our spiritual feelings stem from that. The truth is that the Greeks had Hercules, even as the Norsemen had Thor, and through the ages we’ve had heroes similar to them. In ages past, we had Samson, who’s no more than a super-hero. And today we have our super-heroes. We believe in them because we believe in ourselves.”

INTERLUDE ONE:

Biblical Inspirations

Jack Kirby interviewed in 1992 for the TV program Prisoners of Gravity

“M

y gods... try to survive in awesome situations. They’re awesome people, but they also survive in awesome situations. They live in galaxies far, far away, and maybe they feel that they’re ultimates in their own way, but they’re not. Like anybody in an average situation, I don’t know if there’s an ultimate, or where the ultimate lies. I feel that possibly I’m not equipped to ever answer that question. But the question intrigues me. I feel that it intrigues everybody. Like with everybody it’s a question of faith. So, with me it’s a question of storytelling and faith. That whatever the ultimate is, I have to have faith that it exists. And, of course, the hero does too; otherwise he would never lay his life on the line. Or the villain not only has free reign, but he would also live in fear; after all he’s only human, or even super-human. He lives in fear; he’s in fear of someone. And so he has to resolve that fear. And that’s why he creates a problem and becomes a villain.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Juanie Lane and Britt Wisenbaker, conducted on September 15, 1984 for the Pepperdine University student publications magazine Oasis

“Something I find rather intriguing—and indicative of the odd-but-brilliant way Jack’s mind worked—was that he had only vaguely figured out who the characters were when he drew them. And every time he pitched them to someone else, they were liable to change... As he showed the drawings to friends and potential business partners, he’d describe who they were, how they functioned, etc. And it was constantly changing. Just as Jack often sat down to draw with one story in his mind and it morphed into another, his descriptions of his new characters were freeform improvisations. “Little by little, he firmed up the plans for them. Little by little, he settled on names, including Orion, Lightray, Darkseid, and Metron. But all of those were subject to change until he finally put them down in a story intended for publication. He had the ‘New Gods’ concept, the germ cells of which had occurred to him in the final ‘Tales of Asgard’ stories he’d done for the rear of the Thor comic. He decided Darkseid—always intended as a villain—would be the master villain of that series. He eventually decided Orion, Lightray and Metron would be the main heroes... but at the time he did the presentation drawings of them, he wasn’t certain if they’d be from New Genesis or Apokolips or even in some other, unrelated comic. It was

The biblical Adam and Eve [above from 1985], and the Norse version from the 1964 “Tales of Asgard” story in Journey Into Mystery #103 [left].

like he had all these actors at his disposal and he had to ‘cast’ them in his movie…” Mark Evanier, Jack F.A.Q.s column, Jack Kirby Collector #47, Fall 2006

ny series with the word “god” in it, was bound to find some of its inspiration in the Christian Bible and the Torah. Jack was Jewish, and a big part of the biblical record involves the Jews’ exodus from Egypt. Kirby, an avid movie-goer, had likely seen such big-budget films as Cecil B. DeMille’s 1934 Cleopatra [right] and 1956’s The Ten Commandments, both revolving around ancient Egypt.

His own use of the theme as early as 1957’s House of Secrets #3 [left], 1958’s Challengers of the Unknown #4 for DC Comics, and 1961’s Classics Illustrated #161— for which Kirby drew an unused Cleopatra cover [center]—showed he was in tune with the Egyptian zeitgeist of the time. And it stayed a potent inspiration, as evidenced by the introduction of the villain Rama-Tut in 1963’s Fantastic Four #19 at Marvel Comics [above right]. The May 1970 edition of the fanzine Newfangles (#35) stated that the upcoming Mister Miracle comic would be a “1940-style super-hero book.” While that could’ve been an outright error, Kirby might’ve been considering that at one point. “You have probably seen... these pitch drawings of some of the New Gods characters. [One is] a drawing of a guy that looks like Mister Miracle, and he’s got a gun. It’s not a concept drawing of Mister Miracle. It’s another character he came up with. That guy was not going to be an escape artist. He was not going to be part of the Fourth World. Jack had this idea for this costume, he had this idea for the way the character might move or certain other things, and he kept rearranging this stuff. The New Gods was always in flux. He would keep changing his mind.” Mark Evanier at Jack Kirby’s Monster Influence Panel, held Saturday, April 21, 2018 at the San Diego Comic Fest

Of note is that on the original concept drawing of what became Mister Miracle, the character had outlines around the eyes, which appear to be modeled after the Eye of Horus [above], believed by ancient Egyptians to have healing and protective powers. These Egyptian-style eyes were carried through to the published character, so was Jack perhaps considering a 1940s Indiana Jones-style super-archaeologist for that design, or some kind of reincarnated Egyptian god? The Egyptian pantheon was certainly ripe for the picking by Kirby. Ra, the sun god of Ancient Egypt, was considered to be the King of the Gods, so looking to Ra as a possible inspiration for Lightray’s powers, at least, is plausible. As for his name, “Light Ra” isn’t far removed, although the simpler explanation of it coming from “a ray of light” seems more likely. The face tattoo on Mokkari [top right] from Jimmy Olsen could be inspired by Egyptian motifs, and another 1960s concept that never made it into the series was one that resembled a Pharaoh. “You have perhaps seen… a drawing Jack did of an Egyptian-motif hero. When he first showed it to me—this was before he’d started on any of his DC books—he intended to call him The Black Pharaoh and use him somewhere in one of them, but hadn’t decided if he was a hero or villain. So no, Jack did [left] More Egyptian iconography, from the cover of Mister Miracle #4. Kirby chose to have his hero trapped in an “iron maiden” sarcophagus. Much later, he drew this model sheet [above] of a pharaoh for a Super Friends cartoon while working in the animation field.

not have a firm overview for New Gods when he started, just as there was never any real advance planning for any of the books he did with Stan Lee.” Mark Evanier, Jack F.A.Q.s column, Jack Kirby Collector #32, July 2001

The Evil Eye wand held by the Black Pharaoh may’ve seemed too reminiscent of the one Kirby had Prester John use in Fantastic Four #54 at Marvel in 1966 [left], and he surely didn’t want to be seen as copying his earlier Marvel work. Sadly, that intriguing character didn’t make it into the Fourth World. As the Mister Miracle series progressed (and Kirby’s work got looser and sometimes more rushed), any allusions to Egyptology were forgotten, as Mister Miracle gradually lost his “Egypt eyes” starting in issue #7, with them missing in random panels. Fittingly, by #10, they’re completely abandoned on both the published cover and its unused version, just as the strip turned away from its Fourth World foundations. Quasi-biblical sounding names abound throughout the series, and it’s a fun exercise to attempt to divine the source of those choices. There’s no better place to start than at the beginning, with Kirby’s early Jimmy Olsen issues. “So there we were... sitting in Jack’s den, and... he told us, almost four years [before they saw print], of ideas that he someday wanted to try... when he had the freedom to experiment. There was one idea about a mountain that could be moved across the country, and it was to be called the Mountain of Judgment. And living inside the mountain was to be a group called the Hairies. When Jack made his move back to [DC], he brought this concept with him, and it is appearing in Jimmy Olsen comics. He then told us about an idea of how to create people out of cells. This, too, will appear in Jimmy Olsen.” MARV WOLFMAN:

Marv Wolfman recounting a 1966 visit to Kirby’s home, from New Gods #1, 1971

The names Kirby used in the Fourth World for characters and places—from “Scott Free” to “Granny Goodness”—all have deeper meanings and inspirations that belie many people’s belief that Jack only worked spontaneously, without much forethought. “They were an attempt to symbolize… I planned them.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Barry Alfonso in 1975, for the fanzine Mysticogryfil

[top] 1977 drawing done for Kirby’s synagogue Temple Etz Chaim, a late 1970s Hanukkah card [center], and drawings for his rabbi [left and bottom].

The Mountain of Judgment may’ve been inspired by Mount Sinai, the place where Moses was said to have received the Ten Commandments. Jude, leader of the Hairies, might’ve been named after the biblical brother of James (“Jimmy?”), who is the traditionally attributed author of the book of Jude in the New Testament. And the Outsiders motorcycle gang from Jimmy Olsen can be seen as symbolic of the Hebrews of the Old Testament, always on the move. The Bible’s apocalyptic book of Daniel was undoubtedly the inspiration for some elements of the Fourth World. The most obvious link was the Source Wall in New Gods, with its moving finger writing in flaming letters. In scripture, Belshazzar, unlike his

father King Nebuchadnezzar, never learned to humble himself before God. A hand mysteriously appeared to him and wrote a message upon a wall which only Daniel could interpret. The prophecy said Belshazzar would lose his kingdom and be slain, and that very night both things happened as prophesied. Hal Lindsey’s best-selling 1970 book The Late, Great Planet Earth was likely on Jack’s radar, with its attempt to interpret modern-day events as being foretold by apocalyptic passages in the Books of Revelation, Daniel and Ezekiel. The presaged Armageddon was certainly the foundation for the name of Armagetto, Darkseid’s hometown on his planet. Likewise, the names of the dual planets New Genesis and Apokolips stem from scripture, and while Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, God said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End” in Revelation 1:8. Highfather in New Gods was shown to send out Alpha Bullets from his hands, while Darkseid unleashed the Omega Effect from his eyes. And the prophecy of Orion meeting Darkseid for a “Last Battle” in the fire pits of [top] “God Turns His Back On Mankind,” [center left] Moses, [center right] Jacob and the Angel, and [left] Beastmaster, possibly inspired by the biblical story of Daniel in the lions’ den (Chapter 6 of the Book of Daniel).

Apokolips undoubtedly stemmed from Revelation’s depiction of the end-times, where God and Satan duke it out one last time, with Christ returning to Earth for his Second Coming, to destroy the AntiChrist and save humanity. The name Lightray could’ve beamed into Jack’s mind from any number of religious images showing light emanating from Christ or Angels. Serafin (later altered to Serifan) in Hebrew means “an angel-like being of a lower order,” whereas in Christianity, Seraphim were the highest-ranking angels. Either way, the name fits the nature of the youngest, gentlest member of the Forever People. Odin in Norse mythology was referred to as the “All-father,” while

“Father” was the title given to God in Christianity and Judaism as a giver of life and the law—so Highfather [left] seems an obvious choice for the benevolent leader of New Genesis. Izaya (Highfather’s given name) was based on Isaiah, a prophet in both Hebrew scripture and the Christian Old Testament, who admonished followers to “beat their swords into plowshares” and not go to war with other nations, but instead seek peace. Esak, who played a pivotal role in Kirby’s eventual conclusion of the New Gods, took his name from the Bible’s Esau, son of Isaac and Rebekah. In the book of Genesis, Esau was tricked by his brother Jacob into relinquishing his birthright, while Esak, in Hunger Dogs, gave up his own. Of note is that Orion’s eventual love interest was named Bekka, but as she

was Himon’s daughter and not Esak’s mother, the biblical parallels don’t exactly match up beyond the similar names. It’s like Kirby took all the historical and current interpretations of the Bible, spiced them with his own imagination, dropped it all in a high-speed mixmaster, and poured out the batter for a tantalizing pastry with an infinite amount of deliciously complex flavors and layers. [top and bottom] More images of God: “God Reclining” and “The Ills Of The World.” [center] Another interpretation of Moses.

BUZZING IN THE

BOOM TUBE

SECOND WORLD HITTING ITS STRIDE AS ROYER COMES ON BOARD, AND COVER PRICES GO TO 25¢ Jimmy Olsen #141-145 New Gods #4-6 Forever People #4-6 Mister Miracle #4-6

Mrs. Royer’s Boy Mike

ike Royer [right], who broke into comics by assisting Russ Manning at Gold Key Comics, was recommended to Kirby by Alex Toth. He already had experience inking Jack’s illustrations for the Marvelmania fan club, when he started working on the Fourth World books with New Gods #5, Mister Miracle #5, and Forever People #6. Getting that DC job wasn’t easy, or lucrative; Mike started at $15 a page for inking (which was $3-4 less than Vince Colletta received), plus $3 per page for his lettering. “I walked into Carmine Infantino’s office and I said, ‘Hey, I can do it for the same money as Vinnie, and I can make it look better.’ ...They finally gave me the work, but for less money than Colletta... So I had to letter the whole book in two days, and I had to ink three pages a day, to make two-thirds of the money I had made at the low, low rates at Gold Key.” Mike Royer at the Kirby Tribute Panel, held August 4, 2002 at ComicCon International: San Diego

Collage used in New Gods #5.

Royer eventually became widely regarded as one of Kirby’s finest delineators, if not the King’s very best. But it wasn’t always that way. “Roz and I [laughed] about the time when I took over the inking on Jack’s books, how many people wrote “ in and complained because I had replaced Colletta. But then again, they’d never seen ‘Kirby’ before. I did what Jack wanted me to do. 90% of the time I completely submerged my personality and any desires to embellish. If you were to ask Jack privately, he’d say I was the truest inker to his pencils. When he finally retired from comics, he said that I was his favorite inker.” Mike Royer interviewed on February 6, 1995 by John Morrow

Part of the confusion for readers was seeing Colletta’s light, airy penwork on Jimmy Olsen, while at the same time seeing Royer’s bold, dynamic brush strokes on the other three titles. But Royer did finally get to try his hand on Jimmy Olsen in issues #146 and #147, due to an increase in that title’s publication frequency. “The reason Mike finished those two was because Jack’s Jimmy Olsen sold real well, and they upped the book from eight times a year to monthly, but somehow nobody had told Jack to do more issues. All of a sudden, he had to do a bunch of issues in [left] Royer tweaked Kirby’s Superman heads in Jimmy Olsen #146 just enough to pass muster with DC. But when he changed Big Barda in Mister Miracle #5 [next page, center], Jack had Mike cut the faces off his pencil photocopies to restore them.

FEBRUARY 1971–JULY 1971 (June–November 1971 On-Sale Dates) advance, and there was no way to keep Mike busy. When Mike took over the Fourth World books, DC insisted on keeping Colletta on Olsen so they could maintain some control and keep changing the heads and such. Mike was fine with that because he had other work he had to finish up or withdraw from before he could ink Jack full-time. But then Jack suddenly realized one day, ‘I’m doing three Jimmy Olsens in a row, and if I keep sending them back there, Royer will have no work.’ So he called DC and said, ‘Royer’s inking the next Jimmy Olsen whether you like it or not. I’m responsible for Mike’s income.’ Which was another [instance], again, [of] Jack Kirby the Man looking out for his people. Mike did those two issues and soon, Jack was ahead enough so there would be no lull on Mike’s drawing table.”

And it’s the only time that I remember Jack ever saying anything critical. He said, ‘Don’t ever change the faces!’ So I never did after that.”

Mark Evanier, from a San Diego Comic Fest Panel, held Sunday, February 19, 2017

Mike Royer at the The Kirby Tribute Panel, held on July 28, 1995 at the San Diego Comic-Con

Indeed, the change to monthly frequency was noted in the indicia of Jimmy Olsen #142 (published in August 1971). So if Kirby didn’t get the memo till the time of its release (just after he’d finished drawing #145 in July), he’d have needed to hurriedly draw #146–147 in succession in August to get on the new monthly schedule, and have work for Royer while he set the other books aside to get Jimmy Olsen caught up. Since Mike was inking Olsen, he took it upon himself to remedy the situation of the altered faces.

For the remainder of the Fourth World’s initial run, Mike Royer would faithfully ink and letter every issue—a feat that helped make it visually cohesive, and all the more powerful.

“I believe that every man reaches a stage where he’d like to sum up what he’s seen, heard, and read. I believe he does this to find some value in the scars he’s collected on the road to this plateau. Although, packaged in idealism and adventure, the New Genesis/ Apokolips tale, to me, is quite real and a product of my own sincerity.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Jonathan Bacon in Fall of 1973, published in Fantasy Crossroads #1, 1974

“…It really was amazing that [Royer] could do it as long as he did. Both Joe Sinnott and Frank Giacoia told me they could never have inked Jack’s work on that kind of schedule... and that was without also doing the lettering.” Mark Evanier on Facebook, Aug 27, 2020

“Well, I called DC and I said, ‘If you want to change Jack’s Jimmy Olsens and Supes, send me the model sheets and let me refine them so that they’ll please you, but it’s all inked by the same hand.’ And so, on those couple of issues, I did the ‘fixes.’” Mike Royer, from a San Diego Comic Fest Panel, held Sunday, February 19, 2017

Other than that, Mike refrained from embellishing Jack’s pencil work most of the time. But on one rare occasion when he strayed from what Kirby put down in graphite, he quickly learned he could only go so far without getting reprimanded. “The second book that I inked was a Mister Miracle [#5]. And because at that time I was heavily influenced by Leonard Starr, I just had this bug that I was going to try to make Big Barda prettier. Of course, in doing so, it wasn’t Jack’s Barda anymore.

Kirby appeared at the April 1971 Disneyland Comic Convention, bringing his Gods concept drawings with him to help promote his four new DC titles. Assistants Mark Evanier [standing] and Steve Sherman [seated] are behind him. For the event, they produced a limited edition black-&-white portfolio of ten of Jack’s concept drawings, dubbed the “Disneyland Portfolio.”

New Formats

traditional comic book format. DC was planning a 500-page comic titled Blockbuster, with a $2 cover price, making it the biggest comic book ever published in the US. While it would’ve been a great way to utilize their reserved paper allotment, it never materialized—but it showed that, just as Kirby had pushed for, the company was at least considering other formats, even if their realized attempts with Kirby’s Spirit World and In The Days of the Mob magazines weren’t at all what Jack visualized.

A new inker wasn’t the only big change at that point, as in June 1971, DC Comics raised its cover prices from 15¢ to 25¢ and expanded from 32 to 48 pages, due to a circulation war with Marvel—and, reportedly, subsequent contracting by DC to secure paper stock, as a shortage loomed on the horizon. That expansion enabled Kirby’s Fourth World titles to include reprints of 1940s Simon and Kirby DC work, giving many readers their first exposure to it. Also, due to story page counts increasing from 22 to 26 pages, Kirby added short back-up features to each of the Fourth World books (which helped flesh out the backstories of the characters, and enhanced the mythological tapestry), and had the flexibility to add pages at will to the lead stories. While in retrospect, that was a great thing for the overall narrative, it eventually contributed to the series’ demise.

Memorable Issues In an early 1971 interview, as Carmine Infantino mulled the possibility of making the Fourth World books monthly instead of bi-monthly, he made it clear that Kirby was never going to be able to hand-off these strips to other creators. “I don’t know. If Jack’s books turn monthly, can Jack do all of the work by himself? I’m not going to ruin him. I’m not going to spread this guy so far that it’ll destroy him—and I won’t let anybody else do his characters. Nobody touches his characters! He knows what he’s doing with them.” Carmine Infantino interviewed by Mark Sigal, David Rubin, Paul Hock, and Marc Bigley on January 31, 1971 (November 1971 publication date) for Comic & Crypt #5

Carmine was indeed correct; each issue in this era became progressively more daring and inventive, culminating in some very memorable—some might say notorious—issues.

“The first few issues of the Fourth World books, like everything at that time, were 15¢. Then there was a paper and printing increase and DC went up to 48-pages for a quarter and they stuck reprints in the back. I don’t think that was a very commercial format and apparently, since they retreated from it, it hurt sales on the entire line, across the board, especially with Marvel undercutting them. So one could say that, right when New Gods might have been catching on, DC raised prices in an experiment that didn’t work. New Gods may have been a casualty of that experiment.” Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

After DC’s format change, Kirby drew this self-portrait page, which introduced the 1940s reprints in each issue.

Upon initially learning of the format change, Kirby had to quickly scramble to fill the extra pages, and in some cases added a short introductory sequence rather than a standalone back-up—something he quickly began using as a regular storytelling device. One such intro, in New Gods #4, presented an interplay between Metron and young Esak, which would play out significantly, much later in the Hunger Dogs graphic novel. Per Newfangles #47 (May 1971), around this time, Infantino may’ve finally been contemplating Kirby’s advice about expanding beyond the

NEW GODS #6 “The Glory Boat” (drawn June 1971) tackled the Generation Gap more provocatively than the Forever People ever did. The story’s really about its supporting cast of one-off characters—a father from the WWII era, and his young son, steeped in the politics and pacifism of the time. The entire issue was like an epic opera played out on paper instead of a stage, right down to the cataclysmic finale where the fat lady (in that case, a Leviathan) sang. It was a (pardon the pun) highwater mark of Kirby’s career. JIMMY OLSEN #139 AND #141 One character that only Kirby could have realized is Goody Rickels—and he was as memorable as “The Glory Boat,” but for the exact opposite reason. This wannabe super-hero doppelgänger of comedian Don Rickles left a lot of readers scratching their heads, but Kirby was obviously having fun on Jimmy Olsen at that point. 100

How, and why, exactly, did Goody originate? “That came about because Mark and I loved Don Rickles. He was big at the time. Jack liked him too, so Mark and I suggested that Jack work him into the story somehow. We contacted Rickles’ PR firm and they said, ‘Sure, go ahead.’ Well, Jack turned it into a whole run. He had a lot of fun doing it. It was pretty amazing how Jack was able to get Rickles’ dialogue down. It was Pure Jack.”

Kirby’s pencil art for the cover of Jimmy Olsen #141, and the finished cover [left], inked by Neal Adams.

Steve Sherman interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow

“Steve and I at the time were enormous fans of Don Rickles. Like many people at that time who were our age, we all went around doing Don Rickles, insulting each other. Rickles used to say, ‘I never picked on a little guy, I only pick on big guys.’ Somehow this gave us the idea that we should have Don Rickles make a cameo appearance in Jimmy Olsen to insult Superman. It was gonna be like a three-panel thing. So we wrote out a couple of pages of Don Rickles insults. One of them was, ‘Hey, big boy, where’re you from?’ And Superman says, ‘I’m from the planet Krypton.’ And Rickles says, ‘I got jokes for eight million nationalities and I’ve gotta run into a hockey puck from Krypton.’ So we took these out to Jack; Jack was a big fan of Rickles. And he says, ‘That’s great, that’s terrific.’ And of course he used none of it. He said we’ve gotta get permission from Don Rickles for this. So Steve contacted Rickles’ publicist, and they gave us permission to have Don Rickles do a cameo. Then Jack tells Carmine Infantino about it, and Infantino thinks this is great, this is something promotable, it’s gotta be a two-issue story arc. So instead of us writing two pages, it’s now Jack writing two issues. And you all saw the end product was Goody Rickels. And if you look over the entire story, the one thing that’s missing is there’s not one panel where Don Rickles meets Superman. He somehow never got that into the story.”

[DON RICKLES:] “My daughter uses that as her chemistry book.” [DAVID LETTERMAN:] “How is your daughter?” [DON RICKLES:] “She’s great. She’s working the neighborhood now. [audience laughs, groans] Hey, it’s my daughter! You don’t know her!” (You can see the full Rickles interview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vRR0nq4kBk. The Olsen issues appear at the 14-minute mark.)

It was never explained exactly why Don Rickles had a twin (in a super-hero costume, with a different spelling of his last name), who spoke in the same rhythm and patter as the comedian, and happened to work at the Daily Planet. Was he a runaway clone from The Project, perhaps? Kirby obviously wasn’t approaching Jimmy Olsen the same way as his other titles, and instead just looking to entertain himself, as much as his readership. A great example came in the following two issues, where Superman and Jimmy discovered the miniature planet Transylvane, in a plot derived from the November 7, 1964 episode of the ABC-TV series The Outer Limits entitled “Wolf 359.” In a typical Kirby twist of free association, one of the planet’s inhabitants was even a (were)wolf.

Mark Evanier at the Kirby Tribute panel, held at Comic Con International: San Diego on July 19, 1997

Surprisingly, Don Rickles’ agent never asked for any kind of approval of the story. “I don’t think they wanted to see the likeness. I remember, I think it was after that, I was in Vegas, and I went to where Don Rickles was performing in some thing, but I couldn’t get to see him.” Steve Sherman interviewed by John Morrow on June 25, 2004

Rickles made a 1983 appearance on Late Night With David Letterman, where the subject of Jack’s Olsen issues came up. [DAVID LETTERMAN:] “Now here, Don, I don’t know if you’ve even seen these. I have two comic books. (Rickles smiles) Superman’s Pal, The New Jimmy Olsen. You can take a look at our friend on the cover here.” [Letterman shows issue #141, audience laughs and applauds]. [DON RICKLES:] “Oh my. [Rickles chuckles] I never saw that one [#141]. That one I saw [#139].” [DAVID LETTERMAN:] “This one’s another Jimmy Olsen comic book, once again featuring Don Rickles.” [Letterman shows the cover of #139, audience laughs]

“Jack didn’t take Jimmy Olsen that seriously... I think it was the same thing, ‘How can I make this interesting to me? What story do I want to see, what do I want these characters to do that’s going to entertain me?’ If he had his choice, he didn’t want to do other people’s characters. He would have rather been paid to spend the time doing something else, but since this was what they were going to pay him to do, then, ‘Okay, let me turn it into Jack Kirby’s Jimmy Olsen, into the story that I want to see.’” Steve Sherman interviewed by John Morrow on June 25, 2004

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decided, ‘I’m going to parody Stan.’ I think he just sat down to draw this character who was going to be sweet-talking Mister Miracle into working with him, and his personal reference points for that kind of relationship led him to start drawing Stan. “The issue ended up coming out more Stan Lee than Jack had intended, and I have to believe that something triggered that.” Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow

“…I just know that when I came out there he said, ‘Here’s the next book,’ and he showed me the pages, and I just went, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me, Jack!’ Because at that point I think something was going on that he was really pissed off about. Either Marvel was reprinting some of his stuff a lot, or they were saying something—.” Steve Sherman interviewed by John Morrow on June 25, 2004

That “something” may’ve been discovered by historian Richard Kolkman. Marvel’s Captain America #139 (July 1971 cover date) hit the stands around May 1971, just as Jack was wrapping up Mister Miracle #5 at DC Comics, and preparing its “next issue” blurb with the first mention of the name “Funky Flashman.” [next page, bottom] Cap #139 featured a new character, Sgt. Muldoon [below], whose appearance artist John Romita directly based on Kirby’s, and who had speech patterns that Lee loosely patterned after Jack’s. “One of the fun things I did in those years had to do with a new character in Captain America. Remember when we had Steve Rogers become a policeman? Stan introduced a new character that was basically an update of Cap’s wartime sergeant, Sgt. Duffy. This sergeant was called Muldoon, for whom I used Jack Kirby as a model... though Stan had his hair colored red in order to look like an Irishman. That was a labor of love, which I did for fun. It was a cartoony version of Jack; I put a cigar in his mouth and gave him sort-of a crewcut like Jack had.” JOHN ROMITA:

MISTER MIRACLE #6 In Summer 1971, while the letters page in Marvel’s Fantastic Four #116 was begging readers to submit plot ideas, Kirby came up with one of his most infamous ones, in his “Funky Flashman” parody of Stan Lee [left] and Roy Thomas [right]. Whereas Goody Rickels was an affectionate take on his namesake, this was a whole other creature.

John Romita interviewed by Roy Thomas in 2007 for John Romita... And All That Jazz

If Kirby saw that Lee was making a caricature of him in his beloved Captain America strip—and perceived that as Marvel profiting from his likeness, at a time when he was doing his darndest to prove himself at their largest competitor—Jack probably decided he would turn the tables, and do Stan one better. Adding credence to that theory is the headline on the Bullpen Bulletins page in that very same Captain America #139 [below]: “FUNKY Facts and Freaky Fables, From The Fickle Finger Of Forbush!” It seems likely to me that Kirby developed the bizarre name “Funky Flashman” partially from that Bullpen Bulletins headline, as one more hidden dig at Stan Lee’s penchant for alliterative promotional patter. I also think I’ve found the inspiration for Funky’s last name. Around that time, Kirby had produced presentation art for a character named Galaxy Green—a semi-erotic strip for a proposed tabloid comics magazine called Superworld of Everything, that would’ve been sold in college bookstores and poster shops, had DC agreed to publish it.

“I like satire. At DC I satirized everybody. In Mister Miracle I did Houseroy and Funky Flashman. I thought they were great characters. I loved those characters. Satire to me is just having fun. It’s a little like mischief and that’s all it is. You’ll find that it never hurts anybody.” Jack Kirby interview conducted by James Van Hise for Comics Feature #44, May 1986

“Funky” didn’t start out as a vicious slam of Stan Lee, but once Kirby got the ball rolling, it got a little out of control. “Funky Flashman was originally conceived as our version of that guy we worked for at Marvelmania. When Jack started doing it, the character started turning into Stan Lee. I don’t think Jack consciously 102

“We had talked to Jack [Kirby] about erotic comics, and Jack felt he... was not physically able to sit down and do something as adult as he knew an adult strip would have to be to be commercial… Jack felt there was a huge market out there that wasn’t being tapped. In fact, he was talking to Wally Wood during this period, and he encouraged Wood greatly in that direction. But Jack felt that he could not draw a strip with naked women in it. Galaxy Green was Jack going as far as he felt he could.”

Jack’s repeated use of the word “leader” in the story made fun of Stan’s calling himself that constantly in Marvel’s 1960s letter columns and Bullpen Bulletins pages. And the “happy slaves singing for the family” referred to freelancers working for Martin Goodman, since Marvel was a cesspool of nepotism. The story ended with the line “a MARVEL of contrasts!” Kirby created that parody story more than a year after he left Marvel, and while the Fourth World looked to be a critical success; at that early stage he felt secure enough at DC that he wouldn’t need Marvel ever again—and he had a lot of Marvel axes to grind. Did Jack hold a grudge against Roy Thomas, and it came out in the character of Houseroy?

Mark Evanier interviewed by Jon B. Cooke in October 1999, for Comic Book Artist Special Edition #1

Note the headline on the first page of the Galaxy Green concept art [below].

“Not really. It just happened to be Roy because I think that’s who he knew, because about the time he left, it was Stan and Roy. And even before he left, when it started getting bigger, Roy was the first one there who started interfacing between Jack and Stan, and he started taking over some of Stan’s books. So, to Jack, that’s who he knew. He didn’t know anybody else who was coming in there.” Steve Sherman interviewed by John Morrow on June 25, 2004

As for “Houseroy” himself, Roy Thomas may’ve been initially miffed, but it was more over Jack’s portrayal of Stan. “Most satires have some accuracy to them. If you’re going to satirize a relationship, at the core is something real and it may get distorted to the point that it doesn’t depict the true relationship. Jack was living out of Manhattan and rarely coming in—the last few years all the way out in California—so he wasn’t seeing us from close at hand. What he saw was me (or somebody else if I wasn’t there) as a flunkie, and what the hell, I was, and anybody in that job would have been one too. “I didn’t see it as particularly personal because the relationship between me and Stan wasn’t totally unlike that, but that’s only to the extent that you consider Jack’s picture of Stan accurate. My character, Houseroy, was only there as a cipher, somebody to talk to, to be a toadie, and eventually abandoned by Flashman. It was kind of mean-spirited and warped out of recognition. I did love the name Houseroy, which was cute, but it hurt to some degree. But I realized that Jack didn’t know what he was talking about and was just putting me in to fit the role. Besides, I was a sympathetic character because I get sacrificed!” ROY THOMAS:

“If you see a MAN, FLASH Galaxy Green.” Such was how Kirby’s mind worked—grabbing inspiration from his conscious existence, and from anything that caught his attention, and combining them to make something completely unique. The shots Kirby took at Stan and Marvel with “Funky Flashman” were numerous. A mockingbird is known for mimicking the songs of other birds, and Jack’s parody of Marvel (the so-called House of Ideas, which was always known for copying market trends until he arrived) was dubbed “Mockingbird Estates.” It was where Stan got doled out his weekly allowance from Colonel Mockingbird (publisher Martin Goodman), who’s “holding the purse strings.” Houseroy was a parody of Lee’s righthand man Roy Thomas, who came across as a Lee sycophant, willing to tend to his every whim. The image here was of Stan Lee, taking advantage of those around him, and casting them aside when their value ran out, only to line up the next sucker to capitalize on, with no loyalty to even his underlings. Lee’s brutally portrayed as an opportunistic, insincere, disloyal, untalented egotist, who craved the spotlight, loved the sound of his own voice, and listened to it regularly on tape—something that Jack would recall Stan doing, over a decade later.

May-June 1998 Interview with Roy Thomas, by Jon B. Cooke

These were just a few of the standout stories during this era. From February–July 1971, Kirby was building toward a climax of creativity that would cement the Fourth World as the pinnacle of his 1970s output, if not his entire career. But behind the scenes, political and economic moves were taking place, which would greatly impact where the series would go. Just one month after matching DC’s price and page-count increases, Marvel Comics shrewdly undercut DC by dropping their cover prices to 20¢ and reestablishing 32-pages as a standard (and offering retailers a higher discount percentage). DC, having locked in paper supplies, was forced to remain at 25¢ and 48 pages per copy for another year. That move began Marvel’s domination of the industry to a position it would hold for decades—and also helped seal the fate of Jack’s Fourth World series at DC.

“I came in one night and there was Stan Lee talking into a recording machine, sitting in the dark there. It was strange to me and I felt that we were going in different directions.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Leonard Pitts, Jr. circa 1986 for Conversations with the Comic Book Creators

[left] Next issue blurb from Mister Miracle #5.

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INTERLUDE TWO:

The Gods Are No Laughing

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Matter

Jack Kirby speaks at the 1972 New York Comic Art Convention Luncheon (originally published in the 1973 Comic Art Convention program book)

“Gods are nothing to laugh at. If we laugh at gods we laugh at dramatic versions of ourselves. Gods are not the objects we think they are. Sure, they’re overpowering, they’re omnipresent, they overwhelm us and they make a lot of noise. Sure they make a lot of noise, because, individually, gods are us, they are our own feelings, the feelings that we never express. Sure, we’d like to have a lot of money, but we never do. We’d like to say a lot of things, but we never say them. And we want to live as an overpowering presence which we’re never going to do, because we’re just average people and we’re going to live average lives. We’re going to live as comfortably as we can, and that’s rational—but inside us are those feelings and we have to express them and they come out as gods.”

“P

eople make a mistake when they think people are taking a passive interest by worshipping these images, which are merely themselves. I think it must have been some Norseman with a rusty helmet and a muddy beard sitting on the bank of a river scratching himself... he looked like nothing, you know, and he knew it, but somehow he wanted to have a better image of himself, and he concocted Odin and Thor and Hercules and Samson and a lot of other figures that stood sky high. And in that reflection he saw himself, and by worshipping that reflection he himself became bigger, and his helmet became shinier and his beard became silkier, and he was able to throw around that thunder and lightning. And I feel it hasn’t changed much, except that we’re sophisticated enough to rationalize it better. We know what they are, at least I think so, and accept them for that. I use them in comics because they are impressive, they are powerful. You don’t have to analyze them, but you can enjoy them by absorbing their exploits. They’re really superb images. And actually those are the things that you’d like to be doing, making a noise bigger than yourself, being an image bigger than yourself. I think people might have seen that in the first Superman. We all live with these ideal images... sometimes bad images. And those are a reflection of ourselves, too. I feel that my character Orion is all of us; the good side and the bad side of us. “Actually we in ourselves are some kind of a grand opera, only in our everyday living, only the writers and artists see it dramatically. We see it dramatically too, but only in our own eyes. So when we see it expressed in a magazine, we relate to it. We sense that it isn’t just Orion and it isn’t just Darkseid, Darkseid and Orion are real somewhere. So the gods, or anything else that we write about, are all reflections on ourselves; what we’d like to be, what we don’t like to be, what we hate, what we love, and what we love and hate at the same time. So, sure the stories are sometimes contrived, sometimes uninspired, but they’re stories; the characters and the cast are real, because whoever’s in that story is a reflection of the guy who buys that comic book. “I’m prone to my own environment and express it in the terms of gods. Maybe I was oriented to some sort of mythology. I speak in terms of mythology. Another man will speak in terms of straight adventure, or in terms of romance. I’m communicating in my own way. And I try to make variations of it from time to time in order to be commercial. I have to make a living; I have a family. I’m oriented in that direction.” [left] The painting used for the cover of 1971’s Kirby Unleashed portfolio.

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BOOM TUBE

BUZZING IN THE

THIRD WORLD PIVOTAL STORIES AND INTERFERENCE Jimmy Olsen #146-148 New Gods #7-10 Forever People #7-10 Mister Miracle #7-9

Rivalries

y Summer 1971, uncertainty was in the air for Kirby. His gusto to leave Marvel had him locked in at DC, and he was beginning to fully realize how much of what he’d been promised wouldn’t be delivered. Despite the unsettling environment that was starting to form, Kirby managed to create several issues in this era that, to me, stood out as the finest in the Fourth World’s run—and all were produced at roughly the same time.

Collage used in Jimmy Olsen #141.

MISTER MIRACLE #7–8 (Drawn September–November 1971)

JIMMY OLSEN #147: “A SUPERMAN IN SUPERTOWN”

Scott Free returned to Apokolips to finally escape his upbringing, and gave us the most fleshed-out view of the dark planet we’d ever see.

The promise of Superman’s longing to be among his own kind, as Kirby first foreshadowed back in Forever People #1, finally paid off.

FOREVER PEOPLE #8: “THE POWER”

(Drawn August 1971)

NEW GODS #7: “THE PACT” (Drawn September 1971)

A major revelation about the main characters showed that, as much as Kirby created off-the-cuff, he had precisely planned out that twist well in advance, to further the mythos.

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(Drawn October 1971)

Kirby finally depicted just what the Anti-Life Equation could do, and who had been unknowingly wielding it. At the culmination of this creative zenith, in November 1971, Mister Miracle #6 appeared on the stands, with its unflattering caricatures of Stan Lee and Roy Thomas, and its potential to burn bridges at Marvel. Newfangles #52 (October 1971) clearly stated, “The Funky Flashman character in an upcoming Kirby book is Stan Lee and Flashman’s assistant is Roy Thomas,” so even if it wasn’t obvious to the casual newsstand customers, the heart of fandom knew exactly what Jack was up to. That would include the young editors up at Marvel Comics, who were extremely loyal to Lee, and decided to engage in a bit of tit-for-tat. Newfangles #52 also stated that “in friendly retaliation for Kirby’s killing of the old gods in New Gods a while back, Thor will feature a story where the young gods mess things up and the older ones save the day.” That story would seem to be in Marvel’s Thor #202-203 (which would’ve been produced in February-March 1972), which introduced young Jackson Kimball (note his initials were “J.K.”; while

AUGUST 1971–FEBRUARY 1972 (December 1971–June 1972 On-Sale Dates)

nicknamed “Jackie” in Thor #202, he curiously became “Jason” in #203). He was an AfricanAmerican character—and not coincidentally, an artist—recruited along with two other humans by Heimdall at Odin’s command. All were transformed into a “new race of gods… a younger race” by Ego (another Kirby creation), in a story [above] written by Gerry Conway, just after the Funky Flashman story appeared in print.

“…there was temperament to contend with, and they had all new editorial people. There was a lot of different temperament to contend with... They cut the heads off my Superman, and then they replaced them with a standard Superman head... It bothered me, of course, because a man is entitled to draw things in his own style. I didn’t hurt Superman. I made him powerful. I admire Superman, but I’ve got to do my own style. That’s how I would see it, and I had a right to do that, and nobody had the right to tamper with your work and shape it differently. What if he gave it to an amateur? Think of what an amateur might do to your work. What if this guy thought this amateur had great possibilities, and he wanted to see what he could do with that story? And he picked your story? And you knew damn well what would happen. “Let me say that all editorial decisions coming down from administration weren’t always wise. Let me put it that way.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Gary Groth, conducted Summer 1989, published in The Comics Journal #134, February 1990

Work on Fantastic Four #129 (around June 1972) also took place after the staff at Marvel Comics saw the debut of Funky Flashman. That FF issue, by Roy Thomas and John Buscema, featured the new character Thundra [right], who—with her similar stature and headgear—many saw as Marvel’s own version of Big Barda. “Thundra was, I suppose, a sort of response to (though not a copy of) Big Barda, a character I both liked and didn’t like. But the similar ending of the two names is coincidental (and of course those final three letters are in a different order, so I didn’t even notice it, let alone intend it). I was basing Thundra’s name on the word ‘thunder’ and Thun’da, the old ME character, not on Barda at all. Nor was I trying to divert any attention away from Jack’s stuff... I didn’t feel that was my job. I was simply coming up with a new character for Marvel. Now comics fans had both, and except for both being tall, I didn’t feel there was any particular similarity.” ROY THOMAS:

Roy Thomas, via email to John Morrow on November 9, 2020

Jack’s DC work was making waves throughout fandom, and Marvel offices at that point were full of fans-turned-pro. So it’s not surprising that it caused some there to want to take on Jack in the commercial marketplace, either by paying tribute to Kirby’s work, or in defense of Lee. [previous page] Kirby drawing Mister Miracle #7, page 18, in September 1971. During the course of this photo shoot, the photographer also took this shot [left] of the pencil art from page 21 before Kirby had added the dialogue.

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“…at one point, I know one of the Marvel writers wanted to do a New Gods imitation that would have evolved out of those ‘Tales of Asgard’ stories.”

GODS Portfolio, with his updated Thunder God re-named Sigurd. The guys also tackled an even bigger project: the first biography ever done on Jack, titled Kirby Unleashed. That tabloid-sized book was sold by mail, and shipped in a special envelope featuring an image that looked to be another modified, jettisoned page from Jack’s altered Galactus origin in Thor #169 [left]. The portfolio featured numerous drawings done just for the occasion, and early on sold extremely well, until DC Comics got wind of it.

Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

Rivalry aside, at that point, it’s hard to imagine Kirby wasn’t feeling some stress over how things were evolving against his competition, even though his DC books were reaching a high point creatively when New Gods #7 hit the spinner racks in December.

“We had planned to continue Kirby Unleashed but ran into problems with DC. We had just started selling it when Carmine told Jack that the lawyers felt that since he was working for them (I guess because he was an editor), it violated whatever agreement he had with them as far as exclusivity. I thought it was B.S. but Jack didn’t want to cause any problems. So DC ended up buying all the copies at cost and running those ads [below left] in the comics. That’s why we never did Volume 2. Mark and I didn’t want to spend the time just to hand it over to DC. “The poster set of the Gods was already in the works, but DC didn’t seem to care. I think they were worried that Communicators Unlimited might start publishing Kirby stuff that they didn’t own. And we would have!”

From the time Kirby left Marvel for DC, through the end of 1972, DC published 48 issues with his work, compared to 106 issues at Marvel with Kirby reprints [above]—more than a 2-to-1 ratio in Marvel’s favor. It actually got worse later in Kirby’s stay at DC. In 1973, Marvel unleashed a third wave of reprint titles including such series as Marvel Double Feature, Marvel Spectacular, SHIELD, Tomb of Darkness, Human Torch, and Journey into Mystery, in addition to the continuing titles such as Marvel’s Greatest Comics, Marvel Super Heroes, Special Marvel Edition, and Mighty Marvel Western, all regularly featuring Kirby covers and stories. There was never a time in Kirby’s five-year run at DC that Marvel wasn’t publishing more Kirby work—meaning Jack was constantly competing against himself during his entire Fourth World tenure. But that also meant Kirby had a wealth of fans beyond DC, so his assistants decided to find ways to give them more of what they wanted. Under the name Communicators Unlimited, Jack’s four concept drawings for “new” Thor characters were released as plates in the

Steve Sherman via e-mail to John Morrow on February 15, 2019

While the planned follow-up volume was shelved, excerpts from the interviews Sherman and Evanier conducted for it were used in the 1975 New York Comic Art Convention program book [right].

End Of A Super Run After a string of creative and sometimes wacky adventures, in September 1971, Kirby drew his final issue of Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen (#148). Just one issue earlier, perhaps sensing his time on the book would soon end, Kirby had resolved his early subplot of Superman longing to be with his own kind by finally sending him to New Genesis. By contrast, the rather mundane final story in #148 (with Colletta back on inks, after the two Royer issues) did little more than offer a way to send the characters literally off into the sunset at the tale’s end [left]. 108

Why was Jack taken off Jimmy Olsen—a book he’d brought from the depths of mediocrity to the heights of innovation, and increased publication frequency? The reasoning—including why DC chose to have most of his Olsen covers altered or completely redrawn by previous Superman artists—was clear to Jack.

signaled that Infantino was already moving toward curtailing the creative freedom Jack had been promised at the beginning of his DC era. “Carmine Infantino had a lot of editorial input, for good or ill, on the Fourth World books. He had probably as much as some other comics where somebody other than a writer/artist had the editorial credit.”

“Perhaps [DC] was afraid of new attitudes and innovations. Perhaps they prefer continuous static representations. And that’s the strangest notion of all since I’d been specifically hired to revamp the Superman legend.”

Mark Evanier at the Kirby Tribute Panel, held July 22, 2018 at Comic-Con International: San Diego.

Reading the entire series in the order of release (easily accomplished using DC’s Fourth World by Jack Kirby Omnibus), you can really see Infantino’s influence, for the worse, creatively. By the end of 1971, Carmine was getting a definite indicator that sales on Kirby’s books—and most of the DC line as well— weren’t what he was hoping for. With the then-industry standard of getting sales figures six months after an issue went on sale, he was looking at reports for June-November 1971 on-sale issues at that point:

Jack Kirby interviewed by Kenn Thomas circa November 1976, and originally published in the fanzine Whizzard #9

Kirby himself likely wasn’t that upset about leaving the Jimmy Olsen book behind. “He never wanted to do Jimmy Olsen in the first place. But if he had to do it, he was gonna do the best damn Jimmy Olsen that he could.” Steve Sherman interviewed by John Morrow in 1995, for Jack Kirby Collector #6

“He took [Olsen] on because it was at that point the only book without an artist attached to it. And it gave him a chance to put the Newsboy Legion in it, there was a connection there, as tenuous as it may have been. As he was doing New Gods, Forever People and Mister Miracle, he increasingly asked to get off Jimmy Olsen because it was not his book. It was a little more restrictive because he had to keep checking with the Superman editors. Nelson Bridwell was Jack’s liaison, and anything that affected Superman at all, Nelson had to clear it.”

New Gods #4-6 Forever People #4-6 Mister Miracle #4-6 Jimmy Olsen #141-145 It’s no coincidence that all of these were the first issues that increased their cover prices from 15¢ to 25¢. Marvel’s own Fantastic Four #115, on stands in July 1971, sported a large blurb on its cover stating “Still 15¢.” When a kid’s $1 allowance could buy four DCs, vs. five Marvels (potentially with a dime left over for a candy bar), it’s no wonder the DC sales reports were daunting.

Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

But a more commercial reason existed; Infantino felt Jack’s well-paid talents could be better leveraged on a book in a more profitable genre, and he thus could leave the Olsen title to other, less expensive creators. Also, Infantino was beginning to see some dismaying sales figures on DC’s experiment to increase cover prices to 25¢ across the board, and had to be feeling pressure from above to turn things around.

“When they started getting sales figures on the 25-cent comics, we heard that everything was way down.”

DC Interference

Mark Evanier via email to John Morrow on September 14, 2020

“I’m the Editor... I do what I want to; but there’s a lot of problems in trying to make a more ‘now’ comic. I have a few things planned for the early future, but they’re not out for release yet… we’ve got a lot more planned at DC, and I think fandom will like it. I understand that some of it is confusing to readers—the conception will expand, however, and I’m sure the reader will eventually catch up. Like I said, I want to move into a better comic book form.”

In Don and Maggie Thompson’s fanzine Newfangles #52 (October 1971), it stated, “There are indications that DC is in serious trouble. Dealers are not too keen on the 25¢ comic book[s], sales are skyrocketing for Marvel, Charlton and Gold Key (GK has 15¢ books, Marvel and Charlton 20¢)... and DC has taken to labeling its 48-page books as 52-page books (a cheap trick; no page increase, they just started counting the covers)... DC’s titles are also reported to be dying in droves on the stands, if they get that far—wholesalers prefer to handle the 20¢ books, apparently.” (The report also stated the Infantino had taken to calling the company by its corporate name, “National Periodical Publications, Inc.”, instead of “DC Comics”—an indicator he was getting further scrutinized by its corporate leadership.) Newfangles had previously reported in June 1971 that the 25-cent comics sold fewer copies, and made dealers only 1¢ more per copy than the better-selling 15¢ comics. A compounding sales factor was affidavit return fraud by the distributors, and titles being drawn by the fan-favorite creators of the time, including Neal Adams and Kirby, were among the hardest

Jack Kirby interviewed on February 28, 1971 by G.J. O’Hara & John Millinder, originally published in Stan’s Weekly Express #74, April 15, 1971

The above quote was made by Jack early in his Fourth World series’ production, as he was about to work on the third issues of each title. Kirby’s mention that the books were confusing readers—a message that Infantino with Kirby, at would’ve the 1971 Disneyland been conConvention. veyed to him by Carmine Infantino— 109

hit. During that era before the advent of non-returnable sales to comic book specialty stores, unsold newsstand copies were reflected against sold copies for credit—but those unsold copies weren’t required to be physically returned to the publisher. Distributors simply reported the number of unsold/returned copies on an affidavit which was sent to the comic book companies, and a credit was taken for what they reported, while they supposedly destroyed the unsold copies. Besides the obvious incentive for distributors to pad those numbers, the budding collector’s market of the early 1970s came into play, buoyed by the 1971 launch of The Buyer’s Guide for Comic Fandom, where collectible issues were widely bought and sold. Enterprising comics fans and back issue dealers cut back door deals with distributors and their line workers to buy whole cases of the most popular titles, and then distributors reported those copies as unsold on their affidavits. Robert Beerbohm was one of those dealers, and has worked diligently to bring to light that dark side of the history of the comics industry. These back-handed deals caused a triple-whammy: Kirby’s Fourth World issues didn’t get fully distributed to newsstands, so there were fewer copies to be found there to increase sales figures. The bulk sales to back issue dealers were reported as unsold copies, further lowering the sales figures that DC saw. And with back issue dealers selling their ill-gotten copies to hundreds of older, more sophisticated fans, fewer readers bought them off newsstands anyway, furthering the perception to Infantino that the books weren’t as popular as they actually were. Infantino [right], feeling the heat, took action. One genre that was still performing well was horror/mystery. In response, to fill Kirby’s page quota from the abandoned Jimmy Olsen book, Infantino had Kirby conjure up the idea for The Demon to replace it on his schedule (soon followed by a similar order for a Planet of the Apes-inspired concept that would become Kamandi). Carmine also instructed Jack to add the macabre character Deadman to New Gods to boost sales (Kirby instead put him in Forever People #9–10 to make it less jarring to the narrative).

less have wanted to put into his book, except maybe Fox and Crow. So he decided to put Deadman in Forever People [above] where it was a little less offensive. “Because Jack didn’t want to even look at the old Deadman comics, at his request Steve Sherman and I prepared a storyline for Forever People. Jack read it and said, ‘This is great, this is fabulous, you guys did a great job!’ and then he didn’t use any of it. But he felt since we had been assigned to plot #9 and #10, he should give us a credit. He left us off #10 accidentally, so he stuck it on #11 [right]. It’s a really generous credit considering he didn’t use a word we came up with.” Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

The covers of New Gods #9 and Forever People #9 downplayed the lead super-hero characters, in an apparent attempt to make the covers appear similar to the line’s popular mystery comics, which were reportedly among its top-sellers. Having The Bug and a pseudo-Frankenstein as the most prominent figures on each cover (and ominous black backgrounds dominating their color schemes) likely left many a super-hero fan confused, and conceivably overlooking those issues. Later Mister Miracle covers would fall victim to that same non-heroic approach. Jack soldiered on with these two-part stories, but based on the final panels of New Gods #10 and Forever People #10 (both drawn in February 1972), he must’ve had a sense the writing was on the wall; instead of “next issue” blurbs, Kirby included an illustrated promo for his new Demon series instead. Interestingly, Jack included the term “Fourth World” on his pencil art for several early Demon and Kamandi covers drawn at that time [below].

“Jack was asked by DC to put Deadman in New Gods. He didn’t want to, he had New Gods already plotted ahead, he didn’t want to do other people’s characters at all, and he didn’t like Deadman. I remember he thought it was impossible to do a good character with that name. In the whole DC universe you couldn’t have picked a character Jack would

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[above] Demon promo panels from the end of New Gods #10 and Forever People #10. The character was visually based on a Hal Foster Prince Valiant image [right].

“A New Fourth World Shocker!” (Demon #1 cover, drawn in early 1972) “The Fourth World of the Eerie…” (Demon #3 cover, drawn in March 1972) “Complete Origin Fourth World Issue” (Kamandi #1 cover, drawn in late 1971) “A new complete Fourth World Saga” (Kamandi #2 cover, drawn in March 1972)

Mister Miracle #9. There are visible signs of erasures on the pencil stats of the final panel of #8 [below], indicating Jack changed the “next issue” blurb at the last minute because of that. But Evanier and Sherman weren’t aware of that switch when they wrote a different description of what Jack planned next in #8’s letter column, just before Thanksgiving 1971:

Whether Kirby intended to eventually tie these new strips’ continuity in with that of Orion and Darkseid is unknown, but DC removed those Fourth World references from the published versions of each cover—symbolically, at least, putting an end to Jack’s dreams of eventually expanding his epic, and the comics market. As he finished drawing Mister Miracle #8 in late 1971, Jack switched gears, setting aside the story he’d originally planned for

No doubt feeling the importance of getting Scott Free’s origin fully told, Jack instead picked up on the narrative from his series of short “Young Scott Free” flashback sequences from previous issues. “Himon” in Mister Miracle #9 told the tale of Mister Miracle’s mentor, and Scott Free’s own escape from Apokolips. Jack eliminated the letter column that issue, instead using those extra pages to better tell Mister Miracle’s origin in that seminal Fourth World tale. At the end of the story in #9, Jack added a telling description for the next issue, saying it would document the “Mister Miracle To Be”—presumably filling in the events between the end of “Himon” and Scott’s appearance on Earth in Mister Miracle #1. The letter column of New Gods #10, written in February 1972, stated “...expect Orion to turn up in a future issue of Mister Miracle,” implying to me, that Jack had plans to create a backstory in Mister Miracle #10 (which would’ve been drawn in March) showing how Scott Free and Orion first met, and how Scott learned of his pivotal role in “The Pact.” Sadly, that story never got to be told.

[above] Final panels from Mister Miracle #8 and #9, the latter with Royer’s lettering. [left] In an homage to Oliver Twist’s famous line after eating gruel [“Please, sir, I want some more”], Kirby depicted a version of an orphanage even Charles Dickens couldn’t have imagined, with his “Young Scott Free” back-up stories, and culminating in “Himon.”

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INTERLUDE THREE:

“My mother and father were immigrants from Austria, and they came to the US during that period of mass migration from Europe. There were people of many origins here, and my parents were among the many who came to New York. “My mother, of course, told me many of the old European folk tales, which she brought with her. From these tales I learned to appreciate the art of storytelling, and you’ll find that many of my stories have both mythological and historical elements of truth in their make-up.

it, and he went in search of them. Engendered in all this is a social pattern, and social thought, and the ever-present contention between good and evil. Good and evil are forever in contention, and each will forever try to cancel out the other. This lies behind the path we all tread. We live our lives ’ve noticed that throughout the years, out making the decisions that will clear up the each civilization had its own historical dividing line between good and evil. facts, its own historical legends, and its “Of course, an epic tale can’t be based own historical ways of storytelling. I began solely on two characters; there’s got to be a to ask myself the question of, ‘What were the variety of characters in order to make clear and ingredients of our own storytelling—of the stoevaluate your own social values. So I had my rytelling we see today all about us, in the variown cast; I had Metron, who was an observer ous material that we read?’ With comics as my of all these activities that took place. We have vehicle for telling a story, I began to set down such people; we have people that are unemothe kind of thoughts that were common to the period in which I was raised. You’ll find that the tionally involved with any kind of situation. I had Lightray; elements are mixed, but they have validiLightray, of ty and they have the potency of truth. course, is a “The main characters of the Fourth light-hearted World series are comprised of people character, and who occupy the various positions in two enjoyed life; different families. My conjecture—which and we see is part of good storytelling, I think—still people like had to do with good and evil, and therethat everyday. fore I contrived an evil world with an evil They cause family, and a good world with a good no harm, and family. The key element of my story was they devise Orion, who left his evil world to find his and make true roots, which were embedded in the use of all the planet of Highfather. Orion was essenwonderful tially traded at birth by the evil Darkseid Rose Rose and and Ben Ben Kurtzberg Kurtzberg diversions with two-year-old Jack, circa 1919. to Highfather, in exchange for a young with two-year-old Jack, circa 1919. that lighten child who later became Mister Miracle. our lives. Despite the fact he had broken the law What they of Darkseid, Darkseid still considered him can’t find for his son. And of course, that became an amusement, element in the story which was frustrating to the villain, because the villain considered they will create for amusement. They will not live their lives in vain; they will try to enjoy life. the fact that no father would try to destroy And of course, Lightray is such a character. his own son. Considering Orion his own son, “Highfather is our conception of a being Darkseid could not destroy him. But still he had to find ways of stopping him and punishing him who gives us our total goodness, and of course, that being comes with many names, in many for the deeds that he considered objectionable languages on our own Earth. In the world that I to the evil planet that he ruled. created, I called him Highfather. Highfather—the “The evil world Darkseid came from was opposite of Darkseid—receives Orion, who is his called Apokolips—an evil name in itself. Orion went in search of his true origins; Orion went to own true son. Of course, that heightens the situation, and makes it ready for more adventure. the place he thought he belonged, and he tried “Big Barda is the female star of the story, to find the people to whom he really meant and a girl who is both vital and brave, and has something. He tried to find Lightray; he tried everything we might want to find in the perfect to find Highfather, the ruler of New Genesis, a female. I tried to create a female vision of this planet as good as Darkseid’s planet Apokolips sort, and I think I found it in Big Barda. was evil. There on New Genesis were Orion’s “Mister Miracle, the magician, became his roots, and friends, and family. He could sense

“I

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own magic. He was the one Orion was traded for, and he would never be the kind of character Darkseid would ever consider as an ally. Mister Miracle would have to join Orion in his battle to forever rid themselves of Darkseid in some way. “The New Gods was my own attempt to create a comic book epic, and this I did. I used four books in which to do it, including an episode in Jimmy Olsen, which was part of the DC line at the time. I filled it with a cast and creations that were highly innovative for the period, and I tried to be as creative as I could. I had a Black man, Vykin the Black, and he was part of the epic. I filled it with the people of the Sixties, and I called them the Forever People, because they seemed like Forever People to me. They were a new step, a new social event in the epic of America, so I called them the Forever People. The Forever People were the young people of their time; beautiful, active, highly intelligent, and wonderful material for stories. I used the young people of the times; the times themselves became the backdrop of my stories. I had a wonderful experience in creating new characters. “Oddly enough, it was Darkseid, the most evil of the characters, that brought the others all together. It was Darkseid’s dealings with all of them that became the manner in which I could demonstrate how we all deal with evil. I made it as realistic as possible, and the reader could identify with the characters. The book itself blossomed into many others, and became an epic in itself for years.”

“G

ood guys usually triumph over bad guys. Bad guys, no matter how clever they are, operate outside our law. Sooner or later, they must make a mistake that will bring them in contention with that law, and then they will fail. “I don’t believe I lessened the use of violence, as I did in any of my stories in the past. What I did was broaden the social content of the environment in which my characters operated. I began to bring a little realism into the lives of my characters, and made the environment seem a little more real. In doing that, the reader himself would find the contact with his own times. “When I did use violence, I used it in a sense of an historic event. If you take the epic of the French Revolution, you’ll find that violence was very, very common in that particular part of history. The Hunger Dogs—one of the episodes of the New Gods—contained the kind of element you’ll find in the French Revolution, and the kind of violence that stems from an oppressive atmosphere. In that particular story, there was very little food for those who needed

The New Gods Were OUR Gods it badly, and when you have a situation where you have people deprived of the bare essentials, you’ll witness violence of great proportions. In that particular episode, I felt that I’d recreated an actual event which I believed was not only historically correct, but a great aid to the kind of story that I wanted to tell. “In the New Gods, I became aware of the amount of detail that was

important in telling the story. By detail, I mean environmental detail, background detail; the crowds, the buildings, the feeling for the times. In doing so, I found my drawings tightening. I found my drawings becoming more illustrative, and better than I’d ever done them before. I have the New Gods to thank for that. “I wouldn’t say my drawings were illustrations of any kind, but they were great comic drawings, and they fulfilled the kind of goal I was reaching for in all my years of doing comics. In doing Captain America, I’d concentrate on doing a few figures, and tell the story correctly. The figures were active; they bounced all over the page, but they needed very little background. In telling the story of the New Gods, I told an entire story. I gave the entire picture of the events which transpired. In that way, I feel I have made a giant step in dealing with my own creative ability, my own feelings for people, and my own visions of the future. “You must understand that during the Fourth World stories, there were hundreds of characters, probably too numerous to mention, that were really outstanding on their own. I consider this another accomplishment which came very unexpectedly when I saw the New Gods in their entirety. So I consider this a great accomplishment in the field itself. It was a story that was fully rounded, with people, with background, and with the satisfaction of innovation. To bring this to a conclusion, I’d like to say that I felt the New Gods were our gods. They were not the gods of the medieval ages; not the Greek gods; not the gods that came before them. The New Gods were the kind of people that made our own millennium. We live in the age of the New Gods, and the New Gods are still developing. So I felt they represented you and I, and the people we know; the people of our time. They represent the [left] A 1980s 1990s, and they’ll probably go on presentation piece. from there.” (This transcription is of a taped recitation by Jack, apparently in answer to some questions he received from a fan—as near as we can tell—sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s.)

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BUZZING IN THE

BOOM TUBE

FOURTH WORLD

CANCELLATIONS, AND MOVING MISTER MIRACLE AWAY FROM THE EPIC New Gods #11 Forever People #11 Mister Miracle #10-18

Suspension And Disbelief

n late March 1972, Kirby set to work completing his yarn for Mister Miracle #10 (originally intended for #9 before “Himon” got moved up), which ended up being a far cry from the implied flashback story that would’ve filled in the gaps in Scott Free’s (and potentially Orion’s) backstory. It instead opened with the hero, Big Barda, and the Female Furies returning to Earth in a Boom Tube following the events of #8, to battle a non-Fourth World villain called “The Head”—a villain that was described on Kirby’s early presentation art for a Big Barda and her Female Furies solo title [bottom right]. It was a competent story for sure, but there’s such a definite departure from the previous issues, that it appears Carmine Infantino had directed Jack to shift Mister Miracle away from the Fourth World oeuvre at this point. A cover was drawn [bottom left] and inked for the issue, but not completely lettered before it was rejected (it was eventually published as the cover of The Buyer’s Guide for Comic Fandom #19 on August 19, 1972). The final cover contained

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Collage used in Forever People #2.

the blurb “A Complete Fourth World Death-Defier!”, indicating that when it was produced, the series was apparently still a going concern in Jack’s mind—or at least he hoped it would be. Then, in early April, not long after Kirby’s final issue of Jimmy Olsen was published, the bottom dropped out of the Fourth World completely. Jack was told by Carmine Infantino that due to under-performing sales, DC would “suspend” (in reality, cancel) New Gods and Forever People. “One afternoon, as he was working on Forever People #11, [Jack] received a very disturbing call of

MARCH 1972–JULY 1973 (July 1972–November 1973 On-Sale Dates)

“It had to end at that point, there was nothing I could do about it. For the New Gods it was unfortunate, but I had no time to make a finale for it. When I do write the finale for the New Gods, it’ll be something spectacular... it’ll be the battle [between Orion and Darkseid]; and the battle itself will be a big surprise, I assure you. I think [the graphic novel form is] the direction that comic books are going. When I do the last battle of The New Gods, that’s what it will be.”

the good news/bad news variety. The Good News: Kamandi and The Demon looked like sure hits. The Bad News: In order to make sure Jack could keep on doing both sure hits, a decision had been made to ‘suspend’ Forever People and New Gods. Jack was devastated. Actually, ‘devastated’ doesn’t begin to describe it… He was grey and his voice had the solemn tremor of someone struggling to remain strong while announcing that a loved one had died.” Mark Evanier’s Afterword to the Fourth World Omnibus Edition

According to The Comic Reader #80, January 1972 was when DC made decisions based on Jack Kirby interviewed by Barry Alfonso in 1975, for the fanzine Mysticogryfil sales reports for July-December 1971. Those reports didn’t yet factor in sales of what are now considered the most classic stories Kirby proknow that people criticized the writing and all the rest of it but, y’know, duced, including “The Pact,” “Death Wish of Terrible Turpin,” and the stuff he did at Marvel somehow got better with time, but the stuff “Himon.” So just as the books were reaching their apex (and thus he did at DC got worse with time because he wasn’t supported. The resonating the most with readers), the plug was pulled. If Infantino team around him didn’t bolster him up. There were some people there had given the books another six months, and not forced direction who were Kirby fans, but basically he was let down. It came from the changes on Jack, they may’ve attained the sales goals DC was shoottop. The New Gods could have been one of the best things that DC ever ing for. Over at Marvel, even the Conan the Barbarian book struggled had, but it would mean that maybe Jack Kirby would become the its first two years, but Marvel kept it going till it found its audience, Publisher eventually. And that wasn’t going to happen.” and eventually became one of its top sellers. Neal Adams interviewed by Jon B. Cooke on September 2, 1997, published in Jack Kirby Collector #17

“National made the move to cancel the aforementioned titles for reasons still obscure to me since the books were money-makers. It was an apparently prevalent policy and I’m certain it was a puzzler to others as well as myself.”

Panic Selling? Infantino has, rightly or wrongly, taken a lot of heat for the cancellations, but he remained adamant over the years that, at least based on the data he had available, it was strictly a decision based on sales.

Jack Kirby interviewed by Kenn Thomas circa November 1976, and originally published in the fanzine Whizzard #9

“I remember, after Jack died, talking to Roz; she remembered that day so vividly, because that was the day their lives changed. He really took it hard, because he had all these wonderful plans, and he realized that he could not do any of them at DC.”

“A tremendous college audience, but the youngsters didn’t dig it. They couldn’t understand it. The college kids flaked out completely, but the audience was not broad enough to carry the book... “There’s a line you must cross. Apparently we didn’t hit the key. The New Gods hit one area but couldn’t pick up the other level. I was sorry to see New Gods go, too. And Jack was in tears over it. And he was right, he was really building this thing into a tremendous epic. You never know, there may come a day when we’ll bring it back. But it just never picked up that circulation. Hung around a forty percent sale and bang, that was it.””

Mark Evanier interviews Steve Sherman on the “NEWS FROM me” blog (www.newsfromme. com) on August 6, 2020

Rumors of inner-office intrigue have long been a part of the mystery behind the Fourth World’s cancellation. After all, in fan circles, the series was a critical hit, so how could it get cancelled so quickly? It was known that higherups like DC’s Sol Harrison, among others, didn’t care for Kirby’s work. (Harrison became DC’s Vice-President in Charge of Operations in 1973, and eventually President in 1976, so he wielded power.)

Carmine Infantino, from a 1973 issue of Rocket’s Blast Comic Collector

So, were poor sales really the reason DC cancelled the Fourth World books? I’ve heard several possibilities, including personality conflicts between Carmine and Jack, and lack of merchandising potential. But I have great difficulty believing that it can be written off as simply due to “poor sales.” Infantino states that New Gods sold only 40% of its print run, so he canceled it. But let’s examine the Statement of Ownership that was printed annually in DC books for actual sales figures.

“Jack Kirby did good comic books for DC. But he was sabotaged along the way. Jack was getting too much attention. I NEAL ADAMS:

Jack Jack with with Neal Neal Adams Adams at at the the 1973 1973 San San Diego Diego Comic-Con. Comic-Con.

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(?) Word...

“An army of characters has swarmed on the scene. Together, in one large pattern, they become diffused and battle in small frames and segments for development. Each character, to his creator, is an individual with distinctive features both physical and psychological which stamp him as a strong or lesser personality. But in the context of a great overall theme, like the war between New Genesis and Apokolips, the characters’ potential becomes locked in the tapestry, sinking and emerging and kept in static balance in order for his fellow actors to take their turn on the stage. This has been the state of things in the first ‘Tetralogy’ in the history of comics. “…Orion, Lightray, Metron, yes, and Darkseid himself, have drawn interest from a wide audience. Scott Free, our Mister Miracle, and that female fury, Big Barda, have friends in a broad spectrum of age groups. The Forever People, having dared to be a non-violent bunch, are now familiar to readers. And in each of these characters mentioned is the well earned right to dimensional treatment and further insight. Each has the right to individual focus. And in order to do that, they must have their own stage to play upon. “…The war for men’s minds… will probably go on in fact as well as myth. Its ending I leave to more qualified visionaries. “…The comic reader, like the movie viewer, wants a star to focus on. Thus, the gargantuan sweep of the tapestry must recede into the background and allow us to get a better view of its richest and strongest threads.”

Since none Print Run/Issues Sold/Percentage DC’s Print Run/Issues Sold/Percentage Sold Sold were published in COMIC* 1970 AVERAGES 1971 AVERAGES New Gods, Mister g Questions, by John Morrow or Forever Superman 859,811/446,678/52% 793,000/421,948/53% Miracle, we’ll have Jimmy Olsen** 627,102/333,539/53% 555,000/299,882/54% Comic Collector,People, DC Publisher lowing about canceling Gods: to stickNewwith World’s Finest 606,305/333,213/55% 566,875/312,978/55% but the youngsters didn’t dig it. They Jimmy Olsen num- Adventure kids flaked out completely, but the audi591,190/310,123/52% 549,583/288,941/53% the book... bers. Shown here Justice League 381,212/200,715/53% 362,500/210,108/58% Apparently we didn’t hit the key. The pick up the otherare level.averages I was sorry tofrom Flash 356,666/184,479/52% 326,250/181,380/56% in tears over it.1970 And he was he andright, 1971 tremendous epic. You never know, there Wonder Woman 325,594/172,536/53% 302,500/159,263/53% non-Kirby back. But it justfor neversix picked up that *All data taken from March 1971 and 1972 issues of these books. rcent sale and bang, thatcompared was it.” titles **1970 average includes 2 or 3 Kirby issues & may be inflated due to the huge to Jack’s Jimmy sales increases of Kirby’s first issues. 1971 average is based on all Kirby issues. he Fourth World books? I’ve heard These ng personality Olsen. conflicts between of merchandising potential. But I Jack originally plan towere end the series? Sinceso he worked books all averaged a 50% How salesdidrate, and none canceled, it t it was due to poor sales. so instinctually, it was probably never set in stone. But let’s stands to run, reason deemed acceptable. ds sold only 40% of its print so that DC examine the 50% four potential endings we’ve explored: he Statement of Ownership that wasif Superman A. Mark had Evanier’s version, killsprint Darkseid afteritbecoming But even only soldwhere 40%Orion of its run, actual sales figures. Since none were a reflection of his father (Orion may have died also). would have sold more actual copies than any of these other iracle, or Forever People, we’ll have to B. The Captain Victory ending, where Orion and Darkseidbooks, die Shown are averages 1970 never and Darkseid’s ghost survives, to harm print Orion’s heir). andfrom would have (although been canceled, because ofunable its higher run. pared to Jack’s Jimmy Olsen. These C. The original Hunger Dogs ending Mike Royer mentions, where Further examination ofOrion theand numbers shows that, as sales les and none were canceled, so it Darkseid die, and Esak represents hopedeclined for the future. 50% acceptable. (we’ll elimiD. The(due published Hunger Dogs ending, between 1970 and 1971 to the increase to where a 25¢nobody coverdiesprice), ly sold 40% of its print run, it would nate this one since it’s the product of story changes forced by DC). DC kept them all selling over 50% by lowering the print runs. So you f these other books, and would A.Gods is the obvious choice40% for Jack’s original ending, since it’s the have to wonder—if New sold only of its print run, why not n examination of the numbers shows earliest. But consider this; when TJKC subscriber Jerry Boyd asked 970 and 1971, DC kept them all print fewer copies to keep it above 50%? Jack how it would end in 1977, Jack replied, “Y’know, I thought I had print runs. So you have to wonder – it all figured and readywith to go aacouple years of ago,555,000 but I came up For example: if New Godsoutstarted printofrun rint run, why not print fewer issues? a few new ideas and...” So if Jack had been able to continue the rted with a print runJimmy of 555,000 like andwith like Olsen onlyforsold 40%, would beconclude sellingthem, 222,000 copbooks several moreit years and then the original would be selling 222,000 copies ending could’ve evolved over time into B.or or C. And though all three ies monthly—more than Wonder Woman, Flash, Justice League. If man, Flash, or Justice League. If DC share a common climax (Orion and Darkseid fight to the death, and 2,000 (still higher thosedropped three DCthan then theboth print runperish), to 412,000 (still higher than those probably I don’t think Orion would die at Darkseid’s would have amounted to 54%! So a hand, since Jack has stated in interviewsto that “a would have amounted way to judge three books), those same 222,000 sales father could never kill his son.” y manipulated54%. So a percentage figure is a misleading way to judge perforBut any ending must go deeper than whomatters is the killed-who.by A central themethe of the Fourthrun. World mance, since it can be easily manipulated altering print is how one generation passes on, leaving ally high expec-What matters is the actual numberseries of issues sold. the next to learn from their mistakes (ie. the Old es based on It appears DC put unrealistically expectations on the theNew Gods Godshigh of Thor’s mythology die, and started them emerge from their ashes). It seems only natural Fourth World series based on Jack’sthat, track record at Marvel, and uns (somewhere given the number of Young Gods Jack introh they were started them out with extremely high print runs (somewhere in Esak, duced (Fastbak, Lonar, The Forever People, h of DC’s line at Lightray), planned to selling have somebetter of them were he probably look at the fullthe Superman range). Although they survive to carry on the next generation. Even he series than much of DC’s line at the time,Captain they Victory wanted better. Just look at (as Orion’s son) represented the ngs out of Jack’s future to Jack. His emphasis on different generathe full page house ads they ran before the series appeared—they mmy Olsen tions throughout the series makes me think that ops. I suspect expected big things out of Jack’s books. The initial success of tohisthe even after Orion and Darkseid fought ver huge sales, death,their the story wouldn’t end; it would simply chops. I suspect when of the series. Jimmy Olsen must’ve had them licking to the next level (much like how Thor ced Jack to the other books didn’t deliver thoseprogress huge sales, they blamed it on leads into New Gods). ks in hopes the complexity of the series. They pulled the plug and convinced Still, it’s nice to know where Jack was origie. Just read the nally headed. Now I can finally putget to rest those books in hopes they’d the re, Jack got the Jack to create other, less-conceptual questions that have plagued me for over twenty epic was too big payoff elsewhere. years, and go back and reread the Fourth World he was now series#1, withwhich a new insight intomore where itabout was going, Just read Kirby’s essay in Demon talked ssue stories. DC’s house ad from their August, 1970 comics. and how it would have wrapped-up. his past creations than that new one. If you read between the lines, 33 you could sense Kirby felt defeated—and that somewhere, Jack got the idea that an involved, continued epic was too much for readers to handle, and he was now forced to stick to simpler stories, and focus on individual characters.

Jack Kirby’s essay “A Time to Build” from Demon #1, 1972

The Writing On The Wall Later in life, Infantino engaged in some after-the-fact criticism of the merits of Jack’s work, and some personal preferences came to the fore. “Jack had a great idea with New Gods and the other books, but they just didn’t sell well enough to continue. Partly it was because of Jack’s dialogue. He had good ideas, but he couldn’t write good dialogue. It made the stories harder to read, and if it’s harder to read, then the fans can’t relate to the characters. “Jack had a very loyal following, and he wanted to prove that he was the main creator of the Marvel comics, which he was. He had all these ideas that he wanted to use, and I let him do what he wanted, until sales figures came in and we had to talk. I was heartbroken over this. I loved Jack, loved his work, but I had to put the company’s best interests ahead of my personal feelings. It just didn’t work out. I caught a lot of flak for canceling those books, but I did what I had to do.” Carmine Infantino interviewed circa 2009 by Jim Amash for Carmine Infantino: Penciler, Publisher, Provocateur

Kirby indeed received a fair share of criticism for the series; despite it being a groundbreaking storytelling achievement in comics, part of fandom rejected his approach to dialoguing, as Infantino stated.

Steve Steve Sherman Sherman with with Kirby, Kirby, circa circa 1973. 1973.

“I think a lot of people had trouble with the dialogue on the Fourth World books, because they were expecting Stan Lee-style dialogue... I don’t think Jack ever attempted to write Stan Lee-style dialogue. I don’t think he liked Stan Lee-style dialogue, at least not for the New Gods, nor did he really approach storytelling the same way. In the same sense that Jack was not trying to depict real anatomy in his people, he was not trying to depict real speech patterns so much as kinda doing his own version of an opera on the page. If you cut the 116

Marvel stuff out of your mind and read just New Gods and Forever People and Kamandi as a self-contained unit, I think that they speak to you on a different level.”

“As I understand it, Carmine said something like ‘We’ll discuss later when to bring them back’ and Jack took it to mean they were never coming back. Forever People had a last-minute ending. Then Jack did the remaining issues of Mister Miracle with the feeling that any issue could be the last.”

Mark Evanier at the Kirby Tribute Panel, held on July 6, 1996 at Comic-Con International: San Diego

Here again, Kirby was a victim of having to compete with his own past accomplishments at Marvel Comics.

Mark Evanier via email to John Morrow on September 14, 2020

“I think that Carmine wanted Jack to come up with another Fantastic Four, Hulk, X-Men, etc. and Jack had other ideas. I’ve always heard from those who were at DC at the time that the sales were decent, they just weren’t spectacular. No instant success. Plus, the distributors never liked the name New Gods, especially in the south. ‘What the hell is this Jack Kirby’s New Gods?’ Had they known Jack was Jewish, they probably would have torched them.”

At that point, even though DC’s acclaimed Green Lantern/Green Arrow series had also gotten the axe (its final issue, #89, went on-sale in February 1972), DC proceeded with their already in-the-works paperback collections of the fan-favorite Dennis O’Neil/Neal Adams issues, releasing the first volume in January, and the second in March [above]. They were published under the “Paperback Library” imprint (later dubbed “Warner Paperback Library”), and there was talk of likewise reprinting the New Gods in that small, 75¢ paperback format. In the 1978 Kirby Masterworks portfolio, there’s a previously unpublished Kirby pencil drawing [below] heralding “Armagetto: The Last Battle of the New Gods!”, and dubbing it “The Greatest Comic Ever Written!!!” (with three exclamation points). The caption described it as being for a proposed New Gods tabloid comic, and while DC did consider (and abandon) a lot of different format ideas during that period, I’ve been unable to find any confirmation that a tabloid comic to conclude the series was ever on the table.

Steve Sherman interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow

Regardless, Kirby had to act quickly to salvage what he could of his visionary series, and wrap things up as well as possible in the limited time and page count he had left. He brought the forgotten Infinity Man back for one last appearance in Forever People #11 before sending the kids off to an idyllic limbo, where they hopefully wouldn’t be sullied by future comics creators. Likewise, the Black Racer made a long overdue re-appearance as Jack finally revealed Orion’s true lineage in New Gods #11, where Darkseid’s refusal to harm Orion confirmed Kirby’s oft-spoken belief that “a father can’t hurt his son” (and Desaad paid the ultimate price for proving it).

“I never heard of a New Gods tabloid being proposed. I think that was an ad that was done for the proposed paperback reprinting. At one point, somebody at some company was talking about reprinting New

Kirby ended that story with the promise of a final battle between Orion and his father Darkseid in Armagetto [above]. Instead of a “next issue” blurb, it concluded with a teaser for the new Kirby title Kamandi. Looking back, those final issues seemed a bit rushed in their art and narrative, which was understandable, considering he got no advance notice of them ending. “I think in the case of each book, he found out in the middle of what became the last issue. I remember when Forever People and New Gods were canceled the same day. He was just devastated. He looked like a man who’d been punched in the face repeatedly. He was very, very hurt.” Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

At any point after that, did Kirby have a realistic hope that he’d eventually get to continue his epic? [left] Kirby’s pencil blurb “Another Complete Fourth World Epic!” was removed from Forever People #11’s cover. [right] Though Jack originally included a plotting credit for Mark and Steve on New Gods #11, Evanier assured me neither assistant plotted the issue, and this was Jack trying to correct past credit omissions. It likewise was removed prior to publication.

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Gods in paperback format or in some sort of deluxe format and Jack did a couple of drawings for ads so they could discuss it around the book company. That may have been one of those.”

through the cancellations of Forever People and New Gods (during a period of exactly two years on newsstands, from August 1970–August 1972). Then he completed another 170 story pages for Mister Miracle #11-18, reaching over 1300 pages if you also include the 50+ covers he drew (and that’s not counting unused pages and covers). At the time it was cancelled, there was no end in sight to the creative potential still to mine from the series.

Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Kirby Collector #6

So while an opportunity to properly conclude the Orion/Darkseid conflict may have been discussed at some point, either as part of the paperback series or elsewhere, there’s no indication anything progressed beyond that one possible drawing.

How Would Jack Have Ended The Series? “Orion and The New Gods is an allegory, really. And The New Gods are just a continuation of the old gods… I created Darkseid, because humanity does have a dark side to it. And you can’t get weighed [down] in that, so I think there is good and evil, we all make a choice—and the guys that choose the evil part, they have it reversed in their own way, it can hurt real bad. So it’s up to the writer to symbolize it in some way. “I began to explore people as people—and in The New Gods I did it in that fashion. Darkseid, of course, was irrevocably lost to anything good, except his own son. As evil as Darkseid is, he could never hurt Orion. They always threatened to come to a clash, but a father can’t do that. A good father can’t hurt his own son. And the son can’t hurt a father— maybe it’s possible, but I went according to human nature, from the human nature I observed; and I did it symbolically. I did it with the gods.”

“So with the Fourth World, Jack created this giant world that he could use to pull out whatever he needed. The fact that he never explained a lot of stuff simply means that he just never got around to that story—even if he didn’t know what the final outcome was, he knew it was there… Sometimes when he finished a book he had one idea, and then when he actually got down to writing it, he found himself going off in another direction… Sometimes he’d have an idea one minute and the next something comA fan commission, inked pletely contradictory.” by Joe Sinnott. Steve Sherman interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow

As a fan, I always had the sense that there was a definite ending in mind, and that Jack had a concrete plan for how it would play out. I also figured, in those days before I met them, that Jack’s assistants likewise knew the big secret ending that Kirby was aiming toward— but they would never reveal it, because it was Jack’s story to tell and not theirs.

Jack Kirby interviewed by Ben Schwartz on December 4th, 1987, published in the UCLA Daily Bruin on January 22, 1988

So—just how far was Jack from ending the series when DC pulled the plug? “I don’t think he even knew. Jack had originally conceived this as a finite series. I think if he had done it initially as paperback books as he wanted to, it might’ve ended up being collectively 600 pages. Once DC changed the format on him and put it into bi-monthly comics, he kept course-correcting to the point where he wasn’t really sure. His plans kept being re-adapted. There were characters that were thrown out. There was a character that was kind of a Super-Pharaoh. That guy was going to be part of New Gods. Just like we tried to talk Jack out of putting the Black Racer in #3, we successfully talked Jack out of putting that guy in #4 or #5. So you’re not dealing with a concrete, logical plan on paper. My guess is that if the New Gods comics had been selling well enough for DC to continue them, Jack would’ve probably kept doing them for a very long time. By that point he realized DC was not going to do deluxe, fancy adult comics, or photo comics. So Jack would’ve kept the Fourth World books going as a job he could take pride in. Jack just wanted to be left alone, he wanted to do his own comics and when he felt like ending it, he would’ve ended it, assuming they would’ve allowed him to.”

“You know, I think we may have made too big a thing about it all. I hosted a panel once at a convention where Jack spoke and someone asked him how New Gods would have ended and he said, ‘Only three people know... I know, Roz knows, and Mark Evanier knows.’ Now, I’d never really thought of it as a great secret that had been entrusted to me, but it seemed to please Jack to view it in those terms so we did. But the honest truth is that Jack never worked out all the details of the ending. He had scenes in mind and specific themes, and there were certain things about some of the characters that I believe he viewed as inevitable. But it wasn’t fully-formed and I can’t believe he wouldn’t have made other decisions once he got there. He told me and Steve a lot of what he thought he was going to do. I don’t know how much of it Steve remembers, but I think I remember most of it. Even then, Jack was the kind of guy where every new idea suggested twenty others. He often found his stories taking him in directions he didn’t anticipate, and anything he told us about the ending of the New Gods saga was just the direction he thought he was heading at the moment, what was on his mind that day. If he’d finally gotten around to doing it, I’m sure it would’ve been different. I do have a gut feeling that it would’ve been

Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

A quick count shows that Kirby actually produced 1121 published pages of story (including pin-ups) from Jimmy Olsen #133 118

fabulous. At one point, Jack said it would be the last thing he ever did for comics because everything would have been anti-climactic after that. “I can tell you that it would’ve involved Orion having to kill Darkseid. And I can tell you that it would’ve involved Orion’s full transformation into taking after his father. It also would’ve involved a number of characters that Jack never even got around to introducing. “I don’t think [Orion would have survived]. But I don’t think even Jack could have answered that until he got to those pages. Orion certainly would have become a very different person had he survived.”

Bridwell, Jack’s champion at the DC offices, but that charming little tale wasn’t something that would make a reader spend a nickel more for a DC comic, over a cheaper Marvel one. A month later, DC finally gave in and dropped its cover prices to 20¢ and page-counts back to 32, but the company had already lost market share to Marvel Comics, and would never again regain its top spot. Mister Miracle #9 in May was one of the first comics DC published with that new lower price and page count.

Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

June 1972 brought Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #152 to newsstands, with a wrap-up to the Morgan Edge clone saga, also not by Kirby [above]. Again co-written by continuity stickler and Kirby supporter E. Nelson Bridwell (and apparently drawn very hurriedly by Mike Sekowsky), it offered a conclusion of sorts to some long-running subplots in Olsen and Lois Lane, where Jimmy, with the help of Yango, stumbled into the thick of the Edge clone situation that was left dangling in Lois Lane. It was resolved when Darkseid personally stepped in and destroyed the Morgan Edge clone [above]. In July, Mister Miracle #10 was published, starting the strip’s abrupt departure from the Fourth World. A month later in August, New Gods #11 and The Forever People #11 (the final issues) and Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth #1 were published. In September, Mister Miracle #11 brought back Fourth World villain Dr. Bedlam, but he was a pale imitation of his previous villainy in issues #3-4. There was also a short Female Furies appearance at the intro of #11’s story only, with another brief appearance in #12, before they were forgotten until #14’s two-page sequence; and then they vanished for the rest of the series. As the dust settled from the destruction of the Fourth World, Mark Evanier ended his tenure as Kirby’s assistant, to further pursue comics scripting on his own. He went on to a successful career writing scripts for live and animated television shows, while keeping active in comics over the ensuing years.

Cancellation Aftermath Likewise, Kirby himself would be a very different person following the cancellation of the project that was most near and dear to his heart. “… once the New Gods and Forever People were cancelled... I think the thing that bothered [Jack] the most was the fact that he couldn’t do any more stories to entertain himself. That’s why he did these things, because that’s what he wanted to read. He’d have this idea and he wanted to see it. That’s why he could sit there and draw it out, and once it was drawn out and he saw it, he was like, ‘Yeah! I like that! That’s what I wanted to see.’ Then he’d go on, and then the next time he came back he’d say, ‘Oh, yeah, what else is happening?’ He was drawing these things because he wanted to read these stories. So I think that’s what hurt him the most, the fact that, ‘Gee, I won’t be reading these stories anymore. Nobody’s going to put this out!’” Steve Sherman interviewed by John Morrow on June 25, 2004

Mister Miracle #10’s letter column was written in March 1972 (just as the axe was falling on the Fourth World), wherein Evanier and Sherman hinted that something special was imminent: “Big Barda boosters have a special surprise coming up for them very shortly. You can well imagine what it is...”. While that would appear to be a Barda solo book, in the letter column of issue #12, it was revealed to actually be a fanzine called Big Barda Believers, started by fan Mark Antranig. However, I was unable to find evidence it was ever actually published. In April 1972, Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #150 [above] was published, with a non-Kirby Newsboy Legion back-up featuring Kirby character Angry Charlie. It’s co-scripted by E. Nelson

[above] Mark Evanier and artist Dan Spiegle in 1972. After leaving Jack’s employ, Mark teamed with Dan to work on Gold Key’s Hanna-Barbera licensed comics.

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Jumping Ship Again

“Jack finally had to face the fact that he was never going to have a West Coast DC office, and edit a whole bunch of comics other people did. It was kind of silly for him to have two assistants when he didn’t really even need one. It came about the time the second or third issue of Kamandi was being done. “At that point I was writing for Gold Key comics so I had another source of income and Steve did not, so Jack decided to keep Steve around. Also, I know now that I was annoying Jack a little because I was frustrated at the position I was in. The only thing I really know how to do is write and I was a professional writer working for a guy who didn’t need a writer around.”

Back in March 1972 (a month before Kirby got the call from Infantino cancelling the Fourth World), Stan Lee had ascended to the role of publisher of Marvel Comics, and stopped writing monthly comic books. Marvel’s former publisher Martin Goodman permanently retired from the company in July, making a perfect storm for Kirby to leave behind his heartbreaking DC cancellations and return to Marvel, where Lee and Goodman would no longer be a hindrance toward achieving what made him leave Marvel in the first place— getting to write as well as plot and draw his own stories, and receive solo credit and compensation for it. Jack’s final issues of New Gods and Forever People hit the newsstands in August—exactly two years after his first Jimmy Olsen issue appeared, and coinciding with the 1972 San Diego Comic-Con. That event was held August 18-21, and featured a Kirby cover on its souvenir book [below], showcasing his new DC creations The Demon and Kamandi (Demon #2 and Kamandi #1 were also going on-sale in August). Here, Kirby had ample opportunity to meet with Marvel’s new editor in chief Roy Thomas, who was a guest that year— although any final business negotiations would’ve had to go through Stan Lee, who was always just a phone call away. So maybe it shouldn’t have been so shocking when, in September, Rocket’s Blast Comic Collector #94 featured a newsflash titled “Kirby Leaves DC.” That article created quite a stir in fandom, definitively stating the switch was announced on August 23 (just two days after the end of the 1972 San Diego Comic-Con), and that Kirby planned to take over the X-Men title, and produce some of his own books at Marvel. It went further to state that Carmine Infantino was considering holding Jack to the remaining two years of his DC contract, and paying him to do nothing so he couldn’t leave. With the help of RBCC’s then-assistant editor James Van Hise, I learned that “Hamilton Benedict” (the author of that news article in RBCC) was a pseudonym for Gary Brown. I was able to track down Gary, who dug through his records and offered this recollection:

Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for TJKC #6

The 1972 New York Comic Art Convention was held July 1–5, 1972 at the Statler Hilton Hotel in Manhattan. Kirby was a guest of honor, and Infantino took advantage of Jack’s New York visit to try to smooth over hurt feelings from the cancellation. “[In] ’72 I went to the NY Con with my father and Steve Sherman. I remember Dad having a private dinner meeting with Carmine. He didn’t say much when he got back to the hotel room but he was in a really good mood. He just said it was a very good meeting.” NEAL KIRBY:

Neal Kirby, via email with John Morrow on October 15, 2020

At that Summer 1972 New York convention, Kirby was already drawing pencil sketches of the Demon for fans (the first issue had debuted just prior to the convention), and he spoke of the current situation in the comics industry. “When things become tight [financially], we’re going to become more creative. This is going to be a bonanza for the reader. There’ll be variations and a revitalization of themes we have now... Sure it was easier to work in the old days. There were no rules then. Everything was new. We were finding ways to do new things. “Now a format has been laid down. Our job is to sustain the interest and still maintain a burst of creation. New ideas are coming in from everywhere.”

“I found no notes from that Jack Kirby news item, but here is what I can tell you from memory. When I submitted this column to G.B. Love and Jim Van Hise, I warned them that they probably will get some blowback from DC—in particular, Carmine Infantino, who was on the warpath against bad news in fan publications at that time. I always had two sources—and on this particular item, I had three. (And let me mention at this time, Mark Evanier and I have been friends for more than 45 years and he was working for Jack at the time, but he was not the source of this.) “Kirby wasn’t happy that his New Gods series of books were canceled and was going to leave. Did DC force him to remain under his contract? I can’t answer that, but I assumed that was the case. I heard many years later that Jack was pissed off, but simmered down and agreed to live up to his contract. But I don’t know for sure. Of course, after that contract was fulfilled, he went back to Marvel. Interestingly enough, I didn’t hear anything from Infantino or DC about this, which tells me it was true.” GARY BROWN:

Jack Kirby at the 1972 NY Comic Art Convention, from Ragnarok #2, edited by Mark Collins

(The fanzine quoted above stated that Ragnarok #5 would feature a Kirby cover and interview, no doubt acquired at that 1972 NY con. I’ve never been able to track down a copy of #5, and sadly, according to Dale’s Comic Fanzine Price Guide [2015], only three issues of Ragnarok were published from 1971-1973.) At that point, he’d already drawn Demon #4 and Kamandi #3, so it was abundantly clear that his goal of launching new series (perhaps only conceptually, without laying pencil to bristol board), then handing them off to others while he oversaw them editorially, was never going to be a reality at DC Comics. He was once again relegated to the role of a creation engine, cranking out new ideas for the company at a page rate, and was mostly valuable for his ability to meet his page quota. [above] Jack with Ragnarok editor Mark Collins at the 1972 NY Con. Mark’s Mister Miracle costume, complete with beeping Mother Box, won first place in the Costume Parade that year.

Gary Brown, via email to John Morrow on March 29, 2016

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Needless to say, fandom was abuzz with the news. Future DC Comics president Paul Levitz was, at the time, publishing the fanzine The Comic Reader, and wrote his assessment of the situation for issue #89. As of September 1, 1972, Kirby was still working for DC, and would be until his contract expired in two years. Levitz admitted, “Had I written this story a week ago, it might have said that Jack was at Marvel. The true story behind all this is: a) long; b) impossible to get completely and factually, and c) mostly none of anyone’s business.” The only quotes Levitz could put on the record were from Roy Thomas (“We’d like to see Jack back here, of course, and he would probably do mostly penciling”), and an initial “No comment” from Carmine Infantino, who elaborated that “In the hypothetical instance that he did leave, we would probably keep publishing the titles that he is now doing.” Levitz concluded by saying, “The whole incident is such a mess that I seriously doubt whether any of [the] real facts will be known in this century.” Since we’re in a different century now, I asked Paul about his recollections of the incident, but with so many years passing by, things remain a bit indefinite.

STAN LEE:

“Yes. I’d met Jack once or twice and told him I’d like to have him back and he seemed very interested.” Stan Lee interview conducted by Jay Maeder in 1974 for Comics Feature #21

And Mark Evanier confirmed that Jack did indeed try to return to Marvel, per the rumors in fandom, but was stopped dead in his tracks. “It never got that far; it was about a three-day thing. I was not working for Jack at the time but my recollection about it was that Jack got upset about a number of things and he told DC, ‘Tear up my contract.’ Jack had had a conversation with Roy Thomas four or five months earlier, and Roy had said to Jack something like, ‘The door is always open here; we want you back.’ So he called Marvel, and Infantino—I was told, I don’t know this firsthand—was coming out here anyway for some sort of meeting and he moved the trip up a day or two, sat down with Jack and convinced him to stay on. That was the end of that. Nothing ever reached the stage where Jack started drawing anything, or decided officially what he was going to do for Marvel.” Mark Evanier interviewed by Jon B. Cooke in October 1999, for Comic Book Artist Special Edition #1

Mark was even more succinct in my recent request for his recollections about the event. “Infantino hopped on a plane, flew out to California and told Jack that the corporation would take legal action if he left before his contract was up.” Mark Evanier via email to John Morrow on September 14, 2020

“It’s such a long time ago, and my memory for such info is pretty limited. I checked [RBCC] #88, and no sign of anything Kirby-related other than Steve Sherman being ‘promoted to associate editor” (a title DC didn’t use in those days, anyway). I don’t recall how I learned about it, though it seems likely that Jack was frustrated enough to consider leaving, and the X-Men part of it matches his general approach (‘Give me the poorest seller’). Interestingly (to me, anyway) is that I never saw a contemporary Kirby contract in the files; the Simon & Kirby 1940s contract was there, but nothing on the ’70s. “The folks you cited [Hanerfeld, Bridwell, Wolfman, Wein] were certainly sources at that time, but most of the editors were cooperating, as were Carmine and Sol. But news occasionally bubbled up from office sources via the social network of creative folks, who in those days were all around New York. I was too young to hang out with them socially at that point, but the old 909 Third Avenue offices had a coffee break room where many spent time chatting.” PAUL LEVITZ:

Paul Levitz, via email to John Morrow on October 15, 2020

As evidence of the hush-hush nature of any negotiations, even the most well-connected person below Stan Lee didn’t have specific info about what went on during that tumultuous time in comics. “By Summer of ’72 I was just becoming Editor in Chief, after those few weeks as ‘story editor.’ Does seem that I’d have heard about Jack talking to Stan about coming back if the contact was direct instead of through me... yet Stan certainly didn’t fill me in on a lot of things... like his flirting with going to DC in ’72, or any hint that he’d become publisher till he actually did, or talks with Eisner (and maybe Kurtzman) about their becoming his #2 man, which would have put him/them in over me.” ROY THOMAS:

Roy Thomas, via email with John Morrow on October 15, 2020

Responding to the notion that Kirby tried to come back to Marvel after his Fourth World series was cancelled, Stan Lee recalled the incident a short time later.

[above] A unused page from Mister Miracle #12. Take what you will from it, but the dialogue makes it clear that Jack wasn’t in the best of moods at that point.

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False Hopes

The answer must lie with Infantino, and his having lost faith in the Fourth World entirely. The Demon and Kamandi were published monthly almost right out of the gate, but keeping Mister Miracle on its bi-monthly schedule, without the other titles coming out between issues to augment its narrative, had to have hastened its eventual demise. Infantino’s rationale in keeping solo hero Mister Miracle going in the first place was to build a readership that wasn’t dependent upon its complicated backstory, but that would be difficult with so long between issues, and no other support to build some momentum. The title devolved into a series of one-off, mundane adventures—the sad aftermath of Infantino’s editorial involvement.

Unable to leave DC, Kirby settled in on continuing Mister Miracle with no ties to the Fourth World, and continuing Demon and Kamandi to fill out the rest of his DC contract. In Mister Miracle #12 (drawn during that summer of Jack’s discontent), Kirby seemed to be laying bare his emotions over his situation at DC. As opined by Glen Gold (see his article in Jack Kirby Collector #78), Jack channeled that fateful cancellation call from Infantino, as the protagonist Mystivac told Scott Free over the telephone, “—Living is futile—you want to die—you want to die—!”. As 1972 came to a close, a restless Kirby still seemed intent on finding some way to continue his pride-andjoy series. At the end of Mister Miracle #14 [above], the blurb for the next issue implied another plan by Jack to add a flashback tale, telling Barda’s backstory, and possibly working in more of Scott’s. For whatever reason (presumably Infantino shutting it down), in #15, we instead got the introduction of Shilo Norman totally out of the blue, and absolutely nothing notable about Barda to warrant that story title. Why Kirby chose Shilo’s name is lost to time. Neil Diamond’s song Shilo hit the airwaves in Spring 1970, and Norman Lear’s sitcoms All In The Family and Sanford and Son first aired in 1971–72. Shiloh was a city in biblical days where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, and the Battle of Shiloh took place in Tennessee during America’s Civil War in 1862—but that’s all I could come up with, and no direct tie pops out. Just as perplexing was the cover of Mister Miracle #16 [right], focusing solely on Shilo, with an incorrectly drawn face of Mister Miracle running along its spine. Shilo got the same level of heroic play that Kirby’s earlier black characters Vykin and Flippa-Dippa received, but he lacked those heroes’ panache. It was a half-hearted, aimless attempt at a new direction, and I’m confident no one reading it felt that Shilo Norman was “the most sensational young super-hero in comics,” as billed on the cover of Mister Miracle #15. Why all the attention for that new minor, and frankly lackluster, supporting character, rather than the rich cast of characters Kirby had already developed?

“Mister Miracle was still going, though Jack did not expect that to be the case for long. I don’t think he thought there was any chance of doing a quick wrap-up.” Mark Evanier via email to John Morrow on September 14, 2020

The loss of the Fourth World, and the change to its one remaining title, were felt throughout fandom. The letter column to Mister Miracle #15 (assembled in early 1973) was devoted solely to fans’ comments about the switchover, and included images excerpted from New Gods and Forever People—along with letters from readers disappointed about the cancellation of those two titles, and the lack of Fourth World ties in Mister Miracle. Lawrence M. Ross, a student at Ohio State University, wrote, “Whispers of the demise of all three of your trilogy had been going on since [New Gods] #8, and many of us felt that #10 would be your last… a terrible mistake has been made. Your trilogy had the best material I’ve seen in my ten years of reading comics.” Texas resident Marke Lucke predicted “how boring it’s going to get watching Scott Free escape from ‘inescapable’ traps issue after issue… I’d be willing to wager, all references to the New Genesis-Apokolips war will be forgotten,” and he was correct. Another fan suggested that Jack “put out a New Gods Special with the final confrontation between Darkseid and Orion! You could have Himon and Metron return, Tigra escape and learn why Darkseid hates her, and Kanto realize he’s on the wrong side.” While that wasn’t about to happen, the desire for such a conclusion nagged at fans for the next decade. Never before had a series struck such a chord with readers, and fans’ memories of it lingered, making it the first great unfinished symphony in comics. “Even though New Gods and Forever People ceased publication with their 11th issues some months back, it seems that the majority of our readers are still very much concerned with the outcome of the trilogy… Their cancellation was as big a disappointment to us as it was to you, but a decision was made and so it must be. Our concern now is with the future… As the remaining link in the trilogy, many of you, understandably, felt that the final chapters of the saga would be played out in this magazine. As yet it has not happened—and it probably won’t… Jack has not abandoned them. When the opportunity arises again, they will return on a grand scale…. for no matter where Scott and Barda’s adventures take them, they are—and will always be—part of The New Gods.” Steve Sherman, from the “Miracle Talk” letter column in Mister Miracle #15, written in January 1973

Infantino, fan Barry Alfonso, and Kirby at the 1973 San Diego Comic-Con.

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together with him, but I don’t think I went crawling back to him saying, ‘Jack, I’m starving!’ I had immediately gotten a ton of work at Western Publishing, so I had income. I don’t know whether we just kept in contact or what, but I was back with Jack before long.”

Weariness set in on one other key member of the Fourth World’s production—inker Mike Royer [left]. After three years of Mike’s non-stop inking on his stories, Kirby drew Mister Miracle #17 in May 1973, and included in pencil the credit “Inked by a new rising star, John Pound.” But as published, that former San Diego Five-String Mob member was only listed as a lettering assistant to regular inker Mike Royer, so things didn’t work out as planned. Concurrently, William Stout also assisted Royer briefly on The Demon, but Mike would soon find a permanent replacement in D. Bruce Berry, who first helped Royer on Kamandi #16—after which Mike took a well-earned sabbatical, and handed all his Kirby inking over to Berry for a time.

Mike Royer interviewed in 2003 by Jim Amash

Royer hung on to complete the inking on the last issue of the Fourth World’s original run. In July 1973, after being notified that Mister Miracle would finally be cancelled, Kirby drew a final issue (#18) which chronicled the marriage of Scott Free and Big Barda, and reunited the Fourth World characters as wedding guests [above]. Virman Vundabar, Kanto, Granny Goodness, and Dr. Bedlam were back, teaming up to end the couple for good, but the surprise arrival of the New Gods—summoned by the Source to attend the nuptials—saved the day. It saw print in November 1973, and brought Kirby’s Fourth World to an end. But as Lightray said at the end of that issue, “Goodbye is merely a word, Mortal!” Jack managed to channel New Genesis one last time in some illustrations [below] for the October 21, 1973 issue

“There’s a period before that, when we were at DC and I took my family up to Mount Whitney for a vacation. We were up there for nine days and I stood at the top of the mountain, asking myself, ‘This is so peaceful and beautiful. Why am I going through that rat race every single day?’ I came down from the mountain and asked Jack if I could only do some of the books. His response was, ‘It’s all or nothing.’ That’s why you suddenly see D. Bruce Berry ink an OMAC story and I only lettered it. That must have been the transition period... Now, Jack was not being mean, it’s just that Jack wanted it all done by one hand. So I didn’t work with him for at least three months. I don’t remember how I got back

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been given longer to build its audience, it might’ve survived and prospered. One of the principals involved had additional thoughts about it. “My feeling was, one of the weaknesses of New Gods was just too much personnel at once. He introduced too many things at once, he was rushing himself too much. Jack would sometimes tell us a whole storyline he had in mind, a brilliant concept, and then he’d cram it into three panels in the story so he could jump on to the next concept. He had enough ideas there for a hundred issues, and he was eager to get them all established. At no point was he ever thinking of the books as closing off at number eleven. “…Jack was trying to do an epic, and DC was viewing it as a bunch of bi-monthly comics. A lot of stuff that didn’t go anywhere in some of those [above] After the cancellation of the Fourth World, issues would’ve made a lot of sense Kirby pitched several new ideas to DC for if Jack had done another forty issues. fulfilling his contract. Neither of these were Particularly the Black Racer and the developed, but 1973’s OMAC was greenlit later. Darkseid/Orion relationship would’ve of Pro! Magazine (the official publication of the National Football made more sense if Jack had gotten deeper into it. It’s like any good League), wherein New Genesis-style players engaged in a cosmic novel; a lot of things that happen in the third chapter don’t pay off football game, before Kirby moved on at DC with non-Fourth until the last chapter, and Jack never got to the last chapter.” World series including Kamandi (the Demon had just been cancelled Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6 as well), and eventually OMAC and “The Losers.” But remember that original color presentation drawing of “Lately, a lot of mail has been coming in from readers with all Orion that was used to make the cover image of New Gods #1? kinds of theories as to why New Gods and Forever People were cancelled, ranging from those who thought we were censored due to “For months, DC did not send it back to him. Jack wanted it and excessive violence, to those who said we were too literate… The trilogy DC acknowledged it was his property... but no one knew where it was. was an experiment—a new approach to comic book storytelling—and At one point, he was told that there’d been a rash of original art thefts while the magazines are no longer around, we don’t consider them from the office and it was assumed that the Orion drawing had disapfailures, nor do we hold the opinion that they died due to a lack of a peared in one of them. Then one day, it turned up in a drawer. It had following. Your letters have assured us of that. It becomes a matter been folded in half and severely crumpled when they sent it back to of the way in which comics are sold, plus a variety of intangibles that him. Jack was pretty angry about that. are peculiar to comic “To try and flatten it out, we put it in a cardboard folder and then books… Books are not put the folder under a large, heavy cabinet Jack had in his studio. And cancelled just by a then everyone forgot it was there. A year or so later, Jack and Roz were whim on Jack’s part, or moving out of that house and into what would be their final home, a on Carmine’s, because few miles away. It was the moving men who discovered the drawing they both think too there and handed it to Jack. ‘Poor Orion,’ he said. ‘DC shoved him in a highly of you, the drawer and cancelled his comic... I lost him under a cabinet... but mark reader, and of the my words. He’s too strong for any of us to defeat him. He’ll be back!’” books, as creations.” Mark Evanier, Jack F.A.Q.s column, Jack Kirby Collector #47, Fall 2006

Steve Sherman, from the “Miracle Talk” letter column in Mister Miracle #18, written in July 1973

Kirby, as usual, was prophetic. Orion would return, just as his new gods had risen from the ashes of the old. But first Jack, and his Fourth World characters, had a few detours to make.

So, why didn’t the Fourth World series last longer than it initially did? We’ve covered some of the issues affecting sales (or at least sales reports), and had it

[left] Kirby’s futuristic take on the NFL’s New York Giants, for Pro! magazine.

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INTERLUDE FOUR:

Soldier On The Battlefield Excerpts from interviews with Jack Kirby from 1989 to 1992 by Ray Wyman, Jr.

“The people of my neighborhood were immigrants from Europe. And, of course, in Europe, it is a common thing among peasants to pass stories down, to sit around the farm house and tell stories they collected. People were honored for the number of stories they had learned from their mothers and fathers. It was an important part of family tradition. “Fairy tales, the stories we tell our children now, are part of that legacy. Some of them originate from our ancient history. There were stories about creatures that flew, creatures that menaced them, and some creatures that were very good. Some of the stories came from our instinctual fear of the night; there were menacing and unknown dangers there, things that they couldn’t see. For instance, if you were a Norseman, there were stories about demons of the sea. The Celts told stories about trolls and fairies that haunted the forests. Some of the stories are foundations of our notions of good and evil; right and wrong. There were also stories about gods.

“B

ack then, as we do now, they had God, but they also had different gods. They had the one that we believe in, but before that they had ones for nature, for trees, the sea, the sky, and even ones that governed our feelings. They believed in each of them in every way that we now believe in one God, and for the same reasons. They saw their gods in everything they did, everything that they could imagine. They created stories that they passed through the generations, legends of every imaginable kind. And since it was humans who were telling the stories, their gods were imbued with human qualities. Who was Odin but a father figure? Show me any legendary story that doesn’t have a father figure. Hercules had to bow down to Zeus, or at least talk politely to him. Zeus ran the whole universe. The Germans had Wotan; he ran the universe. The Norsemen had Odin run the universe. Then there were other sons and daughters of gods. They had so many gods that it was of their conditioning, their way of life. They saw their gods in everything—you and I, we’re no different. “Now, you had your evil gods and your good gods and, of course from time to time they would fight among themselves or against each other. They formed the mythology that later formed the backbone of civilization; and because of that they tended to be very simple, very easy to understand— they had to be because these were simple folk. It is those stories that I used when I was doing comics because comics are mythology of the modern society; tales of good versus evil done in a simplified form. “Now, all good stories are based on some aspect of reality. They are

simpler to write that way because you can use elements of your own life to create a fascinating tale. Like good against evil; like the story about Darkseid against Highfather, the gods of Apokolips versus New Genesis. The first thing I did was to go back into history for ideas on how to start the story. There was a custom among the European kings to trade babies, so the French king would give his baby to the English king and the English king would give his baby to the French king, and then they couldn’t go to war with each other because in battle they might kill their own sons. It was a custom bound in self-preservation—a very real aspect to life no matter where you live, no matter who you are. Even kings think about self-preservation. “It makes good story; it is good copy.

I used it in the New Gods. Highfather and Darkseid would exchange sons in the same manner; Darkseid’s son Orion was to live on New Genesis; Highfather’s son Scott Free (who later became Mister Miracle) would live on Apokolips. “The Pact” is one of my favorite stories that I wrote for New Gods because it is based on the fact that good and evil men can make a pact; in fact, mortal enemies can make pacts—like the English and French did. Of course it never really worked, but they tried. “I was impressed by the record of history, that men would try such a thing because, remember, although they didn’t have any huge cannons or the atom bomb, they still felt threatened just as we do. They lived with broadswords and shields, but they were the super powers. It was more difficult to win a war back then. It was all hand-to-hand, one man’s hand against another, and it was personal. It was the pillaging of cities; it was setting cities afire. If you lost, it meant that you could lose your entire family.”

“N

ow, the story involves more than aspects of God; there are aspects of ourselves, the condition of mankind as a whole—these are all part of the real picture that I try to describe to the reader. So, every part of the story is important and every character has his own story to tell. When I started New Gods, I never thought about it the same way as we do when we write a story about Superman or SpiderMan. I visualized it as being a novel, a complete story, the first comics novel. There are various qualities that you will find in novels that you

1977 Royer-inked illo for Robert E. Howard’s poem “Musings” in Ariel, the Book of Fantasy V3.

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usually do not see in a comic book; one of them is the complicated struggles and forces working against each character. So I started by describing the relationships between two sides, each very powerful, each very dangerous, and each with their own unique way of looking at the world. Darkseid is a different kind of character. He is the ultimate expression of darkness. He is the guy that you and I will never get to see. You would never want to see him. Darkseid is the guy who runs the world. He isn’t anyone that anyone knows, but he runs things just the same. He is pretty well armed. He has an army behind him to control the intricate details of his empire. He is the type of guy that says when the dollar goes up and when the dollar goes down; he is the guy that says when we have a job or when we’re on the street with our hat in our hand. We are so taken up with our own lives and our own stories and our own fantasies, and maybe that’s good because he is the guy we shouldn’t think about. This guy is a big planner. Darkseid is what we mean when we say ‘the powers that be’; not satanic, not merely the Devil. He is what we mean when we say ‘them’; but what we really mean is ‘us’. Darkseid is what happens when everybody is asleep. Darkseid catches you off guard; he isn’t reckless, he is far from being a raving lunatic with his finger on a trigger. In fact, he is just the opposite. He is the perfect rational man that we put into power because either we’re too lazy to pay attention or we’re too occupied to worry about such details.”

“H

ighfather is the highest ideal—that is what I meant by his name. In many ways he possesses what common man cannot attain. Highfather was once a warrior, but he became this benevolent leader when he realized that war would destroy everything. He treated people wonderfully and is unlike anything that man can conceive. Is he like God? In many ways he fits that ideal, but he cannot be God because there is only one God; he looks like what we can imagine God looks like, but God is nothing like that. God would be unrecognizable to us, beyond any image that we have ever been exposed to. God defies definition. In some ways God is like every father. He gives us free will, but never turns His back on us. In that paternal way, God cares for us and tries to see us through all our hard lessons of becoming better than we are today. That is real unconditional love; a concept that often escapes the common man. Even saying the word ‘God’ embraces many things we do not understand. It’s like saying, ‘How large is the universe? How was it created? What is the nature of fire?’ Nobody will ever find the answers, not in this generation, and not in any other generation. One guy might stand up and say, ‘The universe came into being at so-and-so; it was one big bang.’ Personally, I don’t believe it. It goes much further than one

theory. It involves everything that we know and larly interesting to me because I felt in reality everything we will learn in the future. Once that no father would have a mortal clash with we’ve learned enough about the universe, we his son; he would really try resolving their difwill admit to ourselves that we will never know ferences. I think close familial differences live everything. That is God. on forever. There is nothing you can do about it; “‘How ’bout the angels?’ But I had to it’s just part of your own intimate conditioning. sell books and couldn’t spend my time trying Father and son can become jealous, angry, and to come up with such a lofty expression, so mad as hell with each other; Darkseid could Highfather looks the way he looks. He also become angry with Orion, his own son, but possesses human qualities that may betray since a father would never hurt or kill his son, him from time to time: Frustration, irritation, neither could Darkseid; he just never did. He carelessness, overconfidence—but he has nothcould be angry, cuss him out, push him around ing of the qualities of Darkseid. If you were to maybe, but never, never hurt him. choose who you wanted as a father, would you “Being the son of Darkseid and raised by choose Darkseid? Probably not, unless you were Highfather, Orion tried to overcome his familial a person who wanted perpetual punishment. traits by using what he learned from his foster Highfather did none of those things, even father to control his natural self—but he was though he might show signs of his humanity constantly frustrated by his own instincts; from time to time. When other characters betrayed by his true nature. He tried to be meet Highfather, they feel that they are in responsible when it is impossible to think. His the presence of something grand, a supreme one familial trait was how he transformed wisdom and light. Even Superman would feel when angered; in that way he was more like humbled by him. I wrote a story where they his father. It was the one thing that Orion met and talked—but, as good could never help. He could as he is, Highfather is betrayed never be cured of that kind by his overconfidence that of thing—no more than an peace is everlasting. Like abused child can be cured of Prime Minister Chamberlain, strenuous relations within his Highfather learns that wisdom own family. Orion was in that and kindness are not always kind of situation. Although good positions to keep in he is Darkseid’s son, he tried the face of a mortal enemy. to stop him in any way he Highfather failed his own can, even if it meant injury or people because he could not death to himself or his father. conceive that Darkseid would “No sane man will injure go to war again. In his mind, a his father or his mother or pact is a pact, but to Darkseid, his brother or people that are it is a means to accomplish an very, very close to him. He end. If Highfather were one of might strike down a relative our leaders, he’d be run out of because either he has never town for this failure—just like seen him or they have never Chamberlain was. He suffered had a close relationship. A for his failure against the man could be out of his own Jack Kirby during World War II basic Nazis, against Hitler. What was senses and hurt or kill a training at Fort Stewart, Georgia. obvious to every common man family member in sheer fits escaped him because he was of madness. Orion has that too good. What the British needed was a man capacity. He could have that sheer fit of madwho could fight and could deal with Hitler on ness just the same as any man does when he his level, and that man was Winston Churchill. faces battle. It is the battle mentality there that “But Highfather is the ideal of man, not does the most damage; it explodes with rage. the ideal leader, not the ideal warrior. You In every human being there is that capacity to wouldn’t want Highfather running the 6th rage. Sometimes you just can’t contend with it. Infantry up the hill against a nest of Nazis. No. It overpowers you and you explode. It happens You would want a man like Orion who could in a prizefighting ring between prizefighters. change into the darkness that he must face One of them will suddenly explode, for reasons on the battlefield. That is why you never saw of his own, not because he has to knock the Highfather raise his hand against anybody. He other guy out. He will try to do that anyway. could strike, because he was not a complete That is part of the game. His opponent will do pacifist. Like any father, he will eventually rise something that he thoroughly dislikes, and he’ll up to defend his family. But he is a lousy tactiexplode; and he will be all over his opponent cian when it comes to dealing with the enemy. and the other guy is done for—because they He is too hopeful that peace may be achieved, are equally matched. These things happen, I when in reality, war is the only solution. The believe, in every person. There comes an inner story between Orion and Darkseid is particuexplosion which gives us the strength of ten; 126

and nobody is prepared for that—even Darkseid. “That’s what Orion had done throughout several of his battles, like his first battle with Kalibak where they throw each other up on top of that great big steel girder and then go up to the top of that building. They didn’t care how much they destroyed or who was in the way. They were out to destroy each other. The first one that fell was the loser, and nobody in that situation wants to be the loser because... well, because that would be the end.”

“N

ow to make the story more interesting for the reader, I had to include the common man as a character, and that would be Terrible Turpin [above and below]. You remember the scrappy police detective who tried to stop the battle between Orion and Kalibak? This character puts mankind, the common human struggles, into the forefront of the story. Every battle may be a super-hero battle, but there are always human consequences. Most wars have nothing to do with the common man. He’s just there because somebody came over and tapped him on the shoulder and said, ‘It’s your turn.’ So, here you are with a simple weapon against a whole army of guys who want to do nothing else but get at you; to kill you. I have found myself in battle as a young man, and I can’t express the horror of this kind of thing. “That is the role that Turpin played. Imagine one small man between two gigantic cosmic powers; one obviously evil, the other obviously good. Both of them using a city as a battlefield and causing so much damage; mankind, our whole civilization, as a mere backdrop to a war of godly proportions. If you were a soldier on the road to Metz, it would be like taking on a whole battalion of Panzers by yourself. Now, on that battlefield it was man versus man; Germans versus the Allies, an equally matched contest. As soldiers we both had one job—to prevent each other from taking territory, and to kill each other if necessary. Now, no soldier in his right mind would face a battalion of Panzers alone; even one would be suicide, and I just said that like I myself had done it. Some people think I’m crazy, but I never did anything like that, but there were guys who did. You can read about them in the history books, and that’s who Turpin is. If he were a real man, he would stand head and shoulders above what a common man of today’s society is like. But still, he is the essential character of all mankind, to stand up against all odds because nobody else would do

the job. There’s always one who will, and when we run out of people like that, that’s when we’re all going to be in trouble. “When you use a character like Turpin, you have to first ask yourself what he is like in the allegorical sense. Who is Turpin? He is a policeman. What’s his job? His job is to keep peace in the city and to keep the criminals from taking over territory. He is a soldier. “Orion and Kalibak: Good and evil; fighting in his city and ruining everything in the process. They were tearing down buildings, making a mess of everything. And the lonely brave soldier who faces a Panzer by himself is no less than that little police officer who has been given a job to stop two gods from destroying everything that man has built. He gets beaten to a pulp, but he keeps on coming back for more. His clothes are tattered and his limbs are bloody, but yet he will still get up and yell, ‘You’re under arrest’ as long as he can force the words from his mouth. In the face of the gods, this kind of dedication to duty is a small thing; insignificant as how we think of ants. With Turpin I can establish the frustration of being that soldier on the battlefield, with the frustration of a police officer, a job never done and a job that can never be completed by himself alone; in any case, he has to risk his life doing it, knowing that he may very well die for nothing. The policeman does that every day. We read about it in the papers. A policeman will get hit by a stray bullet or a policeman will try to break up a fight between two gangs and, of course, he may be injured or killed in the process. This is like any major struggle between all people, but more so by people who take up the responsibility of facing this kind of danger. If you are a Chinese student in China, you might be fighting for democracy. If you are a Black man, you might fight so you don’t have to ride in the back of a bus. The enemy can have any face you can imagine; it might even be a face that you thought was good. We think the Communist is always bad, but if you ask him, maybe you are what he thinks is evil, and he strikes you down because he is protecting his right.”

“O

f course, it is tragic when innocent people are caught in the middle. It always is. And the experience of it is always beyond belief to you as a person. It is heart-breaking to you as a person. You are crushed by machinery that is bigger than yourself, bigger than any individual human, bigger than anything that you can imag127

ine—and mortal man is destined to be betrayed by his own wishes and his own desires. He is betrayed right from the beginning by his image of what he believes that God wants from him, and by what he believes he wants from God. The Nazis, I’m sure, thought that they were doing their god a favor by wiping out all those people. They had this notion that they were the invincibles and beyond earthly control. They wanted to please their god. Like children making their grandmother proud, they did what they were conditioned to do and fought a good battle. They were conditioned all their lives with that, but of course they were wrong. The Nazis thought they were gods themselves, but that was their problem. They mocked the power of gods, and in the end were destroyed by the same power that created them. That was Hitler’s big mistake. He thought that his power would go on forever, but nothing manmade is forever. God is, but not Nazi hatred. You can’t go on expecting people to hate for you endlessly. That’s what happened. His soldiers finally had to give up.”

“W

here God is concerned we’re usually wrong. First off, it’s a bad deal right from the start. God wants nothing from man, but man wants everything from God. Man wants God to take care of things and provide us with a comfortable living, but the relationship is more complicated than that. It is not in God’s nature to give us these things; it’s not in God’s nature to give us anything but what He gave us in the beginning. Why? Because it would be harmful to us; we would be lazy and never do anything for ourselves. Now, if you ask me, that is why a pact between two enemies is always destined for failure, because mankind does not have the ability to understand his own role or to trust his own instincts on how to conduct himself from day to day. A pact may be a promise between two men, but mankind lacks this understanding and the ability to conduct his own affairs on his own. He wants an outside element like God, like a promise on a piece of paper, to do the job for him. It’s because we’re simple creatures. We are children and we are alone—but when we grow accustomed to this fact, then we will understand God’s role in our lives, and we will begin to make a new life for ourselves.”

BOOM TUBE

BUZZING IN THE

FIFTH WORLD LEAVING THE FOURTH WORLD BEHIND First Issue Special #1 Eternals #1-19 and Annual #1 First Issue Special #13 Return of the New Gods #12-19 Adventure Comics #459-460

Collage used in Jimmy Olsen #137.

Exodus

n May 1974, Kirby took one last shot at a DC god concept, with Atlas, an interesting idea that might’ve spawned a great ongoing series, had its reception in the tryout comic First Issue Special #1 been stronger. Instead, Kirby spent his remaining tenure at DC Comics crafting exciting, but only occasionally breakthrough, stories for Kamandi, OMAC, and a few other titles, to fill out his contract. During that Summer of 1974, Kirby’s son Neal asked Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Roy Thomas to meet for coffee at the San Diego Comic-Con (held July 31–August 5), to determine any interest Marvel might have in his father finally returning.

Thomas took that meeting, and confirmed to Kirby that he and publisher Stan Lee would still be glad to have him back. “Jack and their son Neal and probably Roz and maybe someone else—got together with me to my surprise to talk about the possibility of Jack coming back to Marvel then, about a year before he actually did. It didn’t quite come to anything just yet, but it was obvious that within that three or four years, the bloom was definitely off the rose at DC, too, and Carmine was now the enemy, as he was to many other people. “And all I could say to Jack was, ‘The only thing between you really is that Stan was a little hurt about the way you left, but that’s not a big deal. And the Funky Flashman stuff bothered him a little bit, because it seemed, to Stan at least, somewhat mean-spirited.’ I said to Jack, ‘I don’t ROY THOMAS:

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THE GODS OF 1974–1981 A.C. (After Cancellation)

“The Eternals are the gap that we can’t fill. We don’t know what happened back in the biblical days. We’ve killed a lot of people because of it, but we don’t know what happened back then. Did Joshua blow down Jericho with forty trumpets? I’d like to see someone do it. I feel that, from time to time, mankind has risen and destroyed itself and left something for the survivors….” Jack Kirby interviewed by Leonard Pitts, Jr. circa 1986 for Conversations with the Comic Book Creators

take the Houseroy stuff that personally, because you don’t know me. My relationship to Stan was somewhat like what you said, and partly it’s just a caricature because I was there. And the name ‘Houseroy’ is clever as hell, and I kinda like it.’ I’m even a sympathetic character because I got tossed to the wolves. But I said, ‘We can get past that. Stan would love to have you back; he never wanted you to leave’.” September 1997: Roy Thomas interviewed by Jim Amash, published in Jack Kirby Collector #18

Kirby then began talks with Lee regarding the possibility of his returning to Marvel. In February 1975, Stan Lee gave his take on it: “I will say, in all honesty that I’d like Jack to come back, I want him to come back eventually. I sort of half-expect that he’ll come back when his contract ends—I think he’d be making a mistake not to come back. I’d say he did his best work at Marvel, his style is pure Marvel. Also I must admit that he has had so many books at National that have failed, whereas if they’d been for Marvel, I think they would still be being published—especially New Gods. “The thing about Jack is that though he’s a good story man, and a STAN LEE:

good artist, I feel he needs some control, some editing. He tends to get so wrapped up in what he wants to do, that he forgets what the readers might want. I think his material was a little better with us because we exercised some control. I remember on the very first issue of the Fantastic Four, I’d suggested in the synopsis a monster, and Jack drew a hundred red monsters. I said, ‘Jack, it’s more dramatic to have one monster that the reader worries about, than a hundred monsters.’ The trouble with Jack is that he’s so imaginative he tries to put every idea he can think of on every page. He tries to make every page a whole new original thought and action. That isn’t good story. You have to build up a mood. You’ve got to take one idea and stretch it over a few pages and milk the utmost drama out of it. It’s a matter of pacing—you don’t have a chance to catch your breath reading his stories.” Interview with Stan Lee by Charles Murray in February–March 1975, published April 1975 in Fantasy Advertiser International

[previous page, bottom] A 1976 potential Space God. [top] Jack mixes old and new for the biblical Battle of Jericho in 1980. [above] Satan’s Six, the Devil’s hard luck demi-heroes, circa late 1970s. [left] Kirby’s take on the characters from Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey. Ulysses was the Roman name of Odysseus, who battled the Cyclops in Greek mythology.

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On March 18, 1975, Kirby visited the Marvel offices for what was likely the first time since his departure in 1970. The visit took place on the Monday before the 1975 Mighty Marvel Convention (held in New York City on March 22–24). Marie Severin spotted the artist going into Lee’s office and yelled down the Marvel halls, “Kirby’s back!” Kirby signed a three-year contract to return to Marvel (valid through April 30, 1978), but still had to continue working for DC to finish out his contractual obligation with the company. On March 24, at the Mighty Marvel Con, it was announced to fans that Kirby was returning to Marvel Comics, and Kirby made a surprise appearance. Lee recounted the experience in Marvel’s fan page. “As I started telling about Jack’s return, to a totally incredulous audience, everyone’s head started to snap around as Kirby himself came waltzin’ down the aisle to join us on the rostrum! You can imagine how it felt clownin’ around with the co-creator of most of Marvel’s greatest strips once more.” STAN LEE:

Bullpen Bulletins in Marvel Comics cover-dated October 1975

At the event, in tried-and-true fashion, Kirby put down a basic storyline, and Lee as his editor proceeded to polish it: [JACK KIRBY:] “Whatever I do at Marvel, I can assure you that it’ll electrocute you in the mind!” [STAN LEE:] “Electrify, Jack! Electrify!” Nicholas Caputo: “A Shocking Story,” recounted in Jack Kirby Collector #10 in 1996

Once Kirby moved back to Marvel in 1975, it was clear there wouldn’t be a need for Steve Sherman’s involvement on his new projects. Though they kept in touch regularly, and collaborated on screenplay ideas, Steve moved to the entertainment industry, eventually forming a company called the Puppet Studio, to design, build, and perform puppets for TV and movies, including the first two Men in Black films. [above] Ikaris, looking for all the world like a Greek god, from Eternals #2. [below] This two-pager of the space god Arishem shows the scale Kirby was going for. Arishem’s name likely comes from the Shema, a key prayer in Jewish services. [next page, top left] More space gods: Gammenon (after the Greek king Agamemnon) and Jemiah (after Jeremiah, a major prophet of the Hebrew Bible).

The Newer Gods Jack immediately went to work on a new series, revolving around what he’d become best known for: gods. Initially titled Return of the Gods, many fans thought it meant Kirby was somehow restarting his New Gods at Marvel. To avoid that confusion (or possibly a lawsuit), the title was changed before publication to The Eternals. Looking back to New Gods #9, Forager said on page 9, “This food is good! It is made by the Eternals!” Then two pages later, the Prime One opines, “It is said that the Eternals think like that!” So while it’s not conclusive that Kirby suggested the new title, he could at least lay claim to having used it first. In much the same way Kirby took the “old” Norse gods one step further in New Gods, with The Eternals he moved the pantheon of Greek gods into the present day, but in a different, more direct way. Athena, Greek goddess of War, became Thena, while Zeus, ruler of the gods, was named Zuras. Mercury, the speedy messenger of the Greek gods, was now Makkari. Icarus was dubbed Ikaris, and Ajax from Homer’s Iliad was Ajak. The enchantress Circe (whom Kirby had once depicted in a brief cameo in Marvel’s Strange Tales #109 back in 1963) became Sersi, and the gods’ home on Mount Olympus became Olympia. Later in the series, Kirby even hinted that the “Forgotten One” might’ve turned out to be Hercules. 130

While this could’ve easily led to a rehash of a New Gods-style super-hero epic, typical for Kirby, he wasn’t content to simply carry on with what he’d done in the past. Rather than have one evil god (ie. Darkseid) be the main protagonist of the strip, he chose to make it a group of Space Gods who were returning to Earth after centuries away. “And now I’m working on The Eternals, which attacks the same theme from a different direction. The god theme is coming in from another direction. This is a takeoff on Van Däniken’s theory about space gods being here in the past, and naturally I’m making a variation of that and elaborating on it. In other words, the intriguing question is, suppose they come back? What happens?” Jack Kirby interviewed in Lucca, Italy in 1976, published in Jack Kirby Collector #48

The best-selling book Chariots of the Gods?, published in 1968, was written by Erich von Däniken, a Swiss author who proposed theories of how extraterrestrial beings influenced early civilization. Kirby had earlier touched on the concept with his “Origin of the Inhumans” back-ups in Thor in 1967, and he was now ready to run with the idea, as his Eternals (the “new” Greek gods) served to intervene between man and space gods (dubbed Celestials by Kirby), in hopes of saving us all from the Celestial’s judgment upon mankind. In addition to humans and Eternals [above right], a third species (Deviants) was created by the Celestials eons ago, and it had been non-stop conflict ever since. The Celestials were returning to survey their handiwork, and render a final decision on whether their experiment was a success.

“The Eternals is a sincere comment on pre-history and a parable concerning our natural reactions to the ultimate crisis.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Kenn Thomas circa November 1976, and published in the fanzine Whizzard #9

Anyone expecting a continuation of the New Gods was likely disappointed—although Jack’s prefacing of an impending “Fourth Host” who would come back to decide the fate of mankind no doubt rang a familiar bell in the mind of “Fourth World” fans. After a promising start (initially with no super-hero costumes), The Eternals reached a respectable enough level of sales and reader interest to warrant a summer Annual. In an interesting twist, many of these characters were infused with a touch of Incan/Mayan/Aztec imagery in their eventual costuming, especially Ikaris and Ajax. Although Kirby was his own editor on his Marvel books, Archie Goodwin was listed as “Consulting Editor” on The Eternals early-on. His job was to delicately fix any hiccups he found prior to publication, such as typos and lapses in consistency which may’ve occurred while Kirby worked at his usual breakneck pace. By all accounts, Goodwin treated Kirby and his work respectfully. [left] Kirby at his drawing table in mid-1976, working on the two-page Deviants spread from Eternals #6 [center].

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Elsewhere internally, Kirby’s return to Marvel was not without its detractors, however. There were accounts of disparaging remarks written on xeroxes of his art taped to walls, and snide comments by Marvel staffers, both in the offices, and at conventions appearances. I personally overheard young Marvel staffers belittling Kirby and his work on the new Silver Surfer graphic novel at the 1977 Atlanta Fantasy Fair. That project would be his final collaboration with Stan Lee, and while he was forced to carry through Lee’s earlier motivation change to his signature character, Jack was able to give Galactus’ personality a darker side, by adding a new character, the Devil’s Advocate (who would be renamed Master of Guile by Lee). If Galactus was an objective, distant God, here was his flip side—his evil intentions manifested into physical form as an adviser. The Silver Surfer graphic novel was Kirby’s chance to finally present his work in the more upscale format he’d long craved and advocated for. Published by Simon & Schuster, with superior paper, color and printing, it was successfully distributed through actual book stores—a market he’d pushed for since the 1960s. But Kirby complained that the letter columns in his newsstand comics were unfairly stacked with negative comments from readers, in an attempt to push him in directions that the staff, who assembled the letter columns, felt the titles should go. An entire generation of future comics writers grew up on the Lee/Kirby books, and some still held resentment from when Kirby jumped ship to DC. Also, some wanted to collaborate with Kirby as his “writer” and were jockeying for the job, but Kirby insisted on handling all his new books solo. “I never saw any of that. Some doubted whether he should be writing these books. When Stan asked me what I thought of Jack coming back (he didn’t name specific names, but Stan knew that there were people who were not wild about Jack returning), I said, ‘First, I think it’s great; you should have Jack back under any circumstances. Second, don’t let him write.’ Even though Jack had written good material back to the ’40s and up to The New Gods, I didn’t think it was going to work out from a sales viewpoint if he wrote. I didn’t think the readers would like it, but Stan said, ‘Part of the deal is that he is going to write.’ I thought that it was still better to have Jack back, even if he wrote, than not at all. Stan said that’s how he felt and, though the decision was made anyway, [top left] Incan Visitation, a 1975 painting, and likely an inspiration for creating the Eternals. he was glad to have me confirm it.” ROY THOMAS:

Interview with Roy Thomas, by Jon B. Cooke, May-June 1998

There seemed to be a concerted effort by Kirby to keep The Eternals’ covers from looking like ones on conventional super-hero comics—even his own. Kirby always wanted his new title to stay outside the 132

[top right] 1969’s Galactic Head may’ve inspired Eternals #1’s cover image. [above] Cover pencils to Eternals #19, the final issue—and featuring Incan pyramids. [next page, bottom] This 1972 image may’ve been influenced by von Däniken’s theories.

Marvel continuity he built in the 1960s, but was forced to incorporate nods to the Marvel Universe. He did as little as he could get away with (random mentions of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, a quick view of the Thing’s head as an illusion, and a robot Hulk instead of the actual character), but by its second year, covers played up Ikaris as the main character, in his super-suit, battling each issue’s villain in typical Marvel fashion. The Eternals appeared on newsstands for 19 issues from April 1976–October 1977, plus an Annual in Summer 1977. All in all, it never approached the level of satisfaction—for Jack or his readers—felt in the early days of the 1970s at DC. In the end, what concerned Kirby most (editorial interference) corrupted his Return of the Gods, exactly as it did his original Fourth World series. In the midst of Jack’s Eternals era, on May 25, 1977, a new sci-fi film titled Star Wars debuted. It initially bore some resemblance to Kirby’s past work (mainly in similarities between Darth Vader and Doctor Doom, and its use of the Force vs. Kirby’s Source), but an even greater debt to the Fourth World would become evident in its sequels.

No Turning Back Meanwhile, back at DC Comics, major changes were afoot. In January 1976, DC fired Carmine Infantino. He was replaced as publisher by Jenette Kahn on February 2, and former fan publisher Paul Levitz was also promoted to full editor at that time. The duo was responsible for a new era of creative innovation and expansion dubbed the “DC Explosion,” that saw the company incorporate expanded page counts and a wealth of

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[top] A very Highfather-like Zuras confronts a robot Hulk in Eternals #16. [above] One last turn with Jack’s original space god Galactus, from the Silver Surfer graphic novel.

[above] 1976 Tribes Trilogy. I’m assuming Kirby based these on Samurai (note the Japanese influence), Amazons, and Sumerians (their myths were the first to feature dragons).

new back-up series, with a corresponding increase in its comics cover prices. Sadly, market and economic factors, as well as blizzards that disrupted distribution channels in 1977 and 1978, led to DC succumbing to its infamous “DC Implosion” downturn, resulting in staff layoffs and the cancellation of nearly 40% of its line. The remaining unpublished stories were inventoried, and eventually culled into Cancelled Comic Cavalcade, a two-volume in-house photocopied publication, with only 35 sets produced to secure the copyright on the unused material. One leftover 1975 Kirby story, meant for Sandman #7, was included. Though Infantino was gone from DC at that juncture, returning seemed like a nonoption, since things were looking so bleak there as the 1970s drew to a close. Jack also chose not to renew his Marvel contract in 1978, and instead moved to the more lucrative field of animation. Along the way, he took time to visualize the Hindu pantheon in concept drawings for a never-produced Lord of Light film and theme park, based on Roger Zelazny’s science fiction novel [right and below]. Mike Royer inked those pieces, and then mostly left the comics industry, and began a lengthy career on staff as a product designer and character artist for The Walt Disney Company, including creating a new merchandising look for Winnie the Pooh. Kirby initially tried his hand at storyboarding animated projects, but eventually was better utilized as a conceptualizer and character designer on such shows as Thundarr the Barbarian for Ruby-Spears Productions. His prolific imagination and work ethic earned him a level of pay, benefits, and appreciation he never received from within the comics business. Most thought he was done with the comics field for good, turning away from his beloved Fourth World concepts forever. But when a start-up publisher offered Kirby the chance to come back to the field, he took one more stab at comics, even as his former employer was sticking a knife in his back over his old work. 134

[below] Mercury design for the October 10, 1981 episode of HannaBarbera’s Space Stars.

Over In Conway’s Corner

and the New Gods was one of them. I believe that at the time, my thinking was that the storyline had been left up in the air and open, and I liked to tie things up. This was a series already in existence. I would not have to carry a lot of water to make it interesting—it already was. I could draw on the mythology that was already there. But they had been pretty much left fallow after Kirby left those books. Carmine [Infantino, then-publisher of DC] and DC did not have much interest in carrying them forward, so it seemed like a natural fit. “…At that period, I had just left Marvel Comics for DC and I was pretty much the fair-haired boy. Carmine felt it was a coup getting this hot Marvel writer to come over to his company. So I just ran with that, and did pretty much whatever I wanted to do. He didn’t really ask me to give him much prior input. He had his thoughts and his ideas, but felt, ‘Gerry is bringing the Marvel style to DC, so let’s let him do what he wants to do.’”

To the notion that DC was glad to see him leave in 1975 because they were losing money on his work there, Kirby was indignant:

“That sounds psychotic. Everything I did for DC made money. Perhaps someone was offended by my departure.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Leonard Pitts, Jr. circa 1986 for Conversations with the Comic Book Creators

ack had a point, based on how his New Gods concepts were restarted at DC just after he left in 1975. Writer Gerry Conway was the heir presumptive to the legacy Kirby had left behind. He had taken over editing on Kirby’s final seven issues of Kamandi (and even wrote the last three, with Kirby relegated to working from someone else’s full script). After Kirby’s departure, Kamandi continued publication with an art team as reminiscent of Jack’s work as possible: Chic Stone and Mike Royer. Conway also spearheaded a relaunch of New Gods, sans Kirby—and it was one that would eventually combine Jack’s concepts with others. All this was while Kirby was busy creating for another company—such was the impact he had in those few years at DC Comics. January 1976 (the month Infantino was fired) saw the publication of DC’s First Issue Special #13, with its “Return of the New Gods” featuring Conway’s plot, Mike Vosburg’s art, an inexplicable resurrection of Kalibak (who perished at the end of Jack’s final New Gods issue), and a one-page recap of the history of Kirby’s series. Orion now had a more traditional super-hero costume, which completely ignored Kirby’s intent of his resembling a “dog of war” through his original battle helmet and armor. That was followed by February’s debut of Secret Society of Super-Villains (featuring an evil cadre that would soon be revealed by Conway to have been assembled by Darkseid), and April’s Return of the New Gods #12 (picking up the numbering where Kirby left off in 1972). The cover of that relaunch issue was drawn in a very Kirbyesque style by Al Milgrom, although DC didn’t specifically ask him to give it a Kirby look.

Conway’s new New Gods series lasted through issue #19 (on-sale in April 1978, and featuring a brief flashback mention of the Forever People and Infinity Man). Everything then wrapped up in a rushed twopart “conclusion” by Conway in 1978’s Adventure Comics #459-460 in Summer 1978, which ended with Darkseid’s destruction. “As these things tended to go, when they decided to cancel a book, they just told you there wouldn’t be a next issue. I might have known an issue in advance, but I doubt it. There were a lot of titles stopping and starting around that time. I had books literally canceled in mid-storyline, where you told readers ‘to be continued next month,’ and there was no next month. “Honestly, I think there was really only one New Gods—the series that Jack did. Everything that followed was a pale imitation of that—including my own stuff.” Gerry Conway interviewed by Douglas Toole on March 17, 2005

Conway’s time on Kamandi evolved its storyline such that by the time it ended in June 1978, it—and his other title Hercules Unbound (which ran from July 1975–May 1977)—eventually tied into OMAC’s future continuity. A new Mister Miracle series by writer Steve Englehart and artists Marshall Rogers and Michael Golden appeared for one year, from June 1977–May 1978, before DC succumbed to its “DC Implosion.” But the hint was that, somehow, the future “Great Disaster” that Kirby evoked in Kamandi and tied to OMAC, was caused by Darkseid’s final battle with Orion, though it was never expressly documented. A final Conway-scripted New Gods appearance occurred in Summer 1980’s Justice League #183-185, for the annual crossover with the Justice Society. It brought Darkseid back to life after his apparent demise in Adventure Comics two years prior—and launched a resurrection of the mostly dormant New Gods characters at DC over the next few years.

“I don’t think anybody said, ‘We want to try to fool people into thinking Kirby’s still on the book.’ That was just at my own behest. These characters look good the way Kirby draws them; let’s try and do that.” AL MILGROM:

Al Milgrom interviewed by John Morrow on February 19, 2019, published in Jack Kirby Collector #76

Conway’s assignment on First Issue Special and the revived New Gods series came about from his own affection for the Kirby series, more than as a corporate directive from above. GERRY CONWAY:

“I think it was more my idea than anything else. I was looking for projects at DC that I could be enthusiastic about, 135

BOOM TUBE

BUZZING IN THE

SIXTH WORLD CAPTAIN VICTORY, HUNGER DOGS, AND SUPER POWERS Captain Victory #1-13 Legion of Super-Heroes #290-294 Super Powers I #1-5 Hunger Dogs graphic novel Super Powers II #1-6

Light From The Darkness

n May 21, 1980, The Empire Strikes Back debuted in movie theaters worldwide, and its climatic father/son reveal had most Kirby fans leaving their local cineplex convinced director George Lucas owed a huge debt to Jack. That influence would continue to be felt on May 25, 1983, when the original Star Wars trilogy ended with Return of the Jedi. Behind the scenes in the early 1980s, Kirby was engaged in a contentious legal battle with Marvel Comics, over the return of his original artwork.

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THE ERA OF RE-GENESIS (1981–1986)

“In my attempt to create a serious novel for our medium, I have chosen that most basic of experiences, one we have all shared at one time or another—survival. If the fate of all mankind were in your hands, what would your decision be? ...As a writer and an artist, I’ve drawn my answer.”

Fearful that soon to expire copyrights on his 1960s Marvel creations would result in him claiming ownership, Marvel withheld thousands of pages of Kirby’s original artwork in their files as leverage, even though they had begun to return artwork to other concurrent 1960s artists. Kirby was singled out for a lengthier release to sign, which included legal language he couldn’t agree to. When word leaked out, a campaign against Marvel began in the fan press (spearheaded largely by The Comics Journal), and a dark era began for Jack, well after he’d left comics for good—or so he thought. Brothers Bill and Steve Schanes had co-founded Pacific Comics in 1971 as a mail-order comics dealer for collectors (at the same time affidavit return fraud was causing the Fourth World’s sales to be under-reported). After successfully opening their own comics shop, they branched out into the non-returnable Direct Market distribution of comics, and reached the point of starting their own independent comics publishing house. They approached Kirby in 1981 with a deal that included royalties, full creative control, and ownership of his original artwork—all things he’d never been

Jack Kirby from a DC Comics’ press release, February 6, 1985

offered working for Marvel or DC. It was enough to make him take a leap of faith on the new publisher, and give comics one more try. Thus, Summer 1981 saw the debut issue of Kirby’s Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers, published by Pacific Comics, making it Jack’s first comic published specifically for the Direct Market of comic books stores. That cemented a new distribution model for comics, which is still being used today. But it also afforded an opportunity for Kirby to finally produce an ending to his Fourth World storylines—just not at DC Comics. It was quite a confluence of unrelated events that caused it to happen. Earlier that year, in February 1981, Jenette Kahn [top] became DC’s president following the retirement of Sol Harrison, and Paul Levitz [center] was promoted to executive vice president, with Dick Giordano [bottom] serving as managing editor. Then suddenly, the New Gods characters made a high-profile comeback in 1982 in a storyline titled “The Great Darkness Saga.” Appearing from January– August, and occurring in the Legion of Super-Heroes title (issues #290-294, written by Levitz and drawn by Keith Giffen), it started as a slow burn with hints of who a shadowy 30th Century “Master” villain was who controlled the “Great Darkness.” That all led up to a big reveal: It was Darkseid, who’d somehow managed to survive the ensuing ten centuries, only to threaten the universe once again. I think it’s critical to read “The Great Darkness Saga” in order to fully understand how and why Kirby shaped his New Gods’ future from that point on. In it, both Highfather and Orion were briefly resurrected as clones before perishing in battle with Darkseid at the climax, and that may’ve played a part in Jack’s thinking to follow. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume he took at least some umbrage at DC presenting that story [left] If you had any doubt that Kirby somehow saw all his work as interconnected, this 1981 film premise should lay that to rest. It reads as a combination of New Gods, Eternals, and Captain Victory, and the pin-up on the previous page (from Captain Victory Special #1) may have been done to accompany it, as it matches this concept perfectly.

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of Darkseid’s future without his involvement—especially at a time when tensions were already high in his relationship with Marvel Comics, the other mainstream publisher he’d built a legacy for. (In fairness to DC, Jack was done with mainstream comics at that point, using his talents on such animated series as Thundarr the Barbarian [above]—so there was no reason to think he’d come back to DC, or object to their use of the New Gods.) As “The Great Darkness Saga” was wrapping up, Marvel and DC Present Featuring The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans appeared out of the blue as an inter-company crossover in Summer 1982. The two hottest properties in comics at the time banded together to battle Darkseid, who was trying to harness the power of Dark Phoenix for his own ends. Walter Simonson and Terry Austin provided the best depiction of Kirby’s master villain since Jack himself, and writer Chris Claremont managed to capture his evil essence nearly as well as Jack had. Kirby was always possessive of his creations, but never moreso than with the New Gods. He wouldn’t sit idly by and watch DC (and now, Marvel!) bring them out of mothballs and attempt a postscript to his own run. So he chose to tell his own version, in the only comic he was drawing at the time: Captain Victory.

From False Gods, A True Ending

In the late 1970s—on spec—Kirby penciled a 17-page “Captain Victory” story (that name was once considered for one of Kirby’s 1960s concept drawings). He expanded it into a 50-page graphic novel with inks by Mike Royer, but it all languished until Pacific Comics came calling in 1981. Kirby split-up those 50-pages to make Captain Victory #1 and #2, then Mike Thibodeaux [right] came on board to ink the rest of its 13-issue run. From the onset of Captain Victory’s 1981 publication, you could argue that Kirby was laying the groundwork for continuing his Fourth World series. The main villainess in Captain Victory #1 was the Lightning Lady, the humanoid leader (appropriately sporting a giant beehive hairdo) of an army of bug people, bent on dominating as many worlds as possible.

[above] Royer inked this late 1970s presentation art for the Captain Victory concept.

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In a dramatic first issue splash page [previous page], she proclaimed: “…we’ll claim this planet as we have done all the others—and shape it in our own image! The way of the Insectons must prevail!” Kirby’s dramatic caption, from what was likely a concept drawing for Lightning Lady [right], stated the premise he was envisioning, as her subjects swarmed over a city like giant locusts. She emitted bolts of electrical-based energy as her bug army invaded Earth. Sound familiar? If not, look back to Mantis’ appearance in New Gods #9-10, for a identical scenario. Back then, in the midst of the late upheaval caused by Infantino’s interference in the Fourth World, Kirby felt it important to introduce Forager, another new character— along with his entire bug civilization— to an already crowded mythos. That was a story he was itching to tell, and to revisit it more than once over the next decade, implies to me at least, that he viewed Lightning Lady as some kind of descendant of Mantis, either figuratively or literally. Adding weight to that theory, is how the concept of Captain Victory also appeared as a March 11, 1977 movie screenplay by Jack and Steve Sherman (five years after Forager debuted). While a number of things changed when Jack produced it in comics form, the character of the Lightning Lady was already remarkably well-defined. And lest you doubt Kirby viewed this as somehow linked to his Fourth World from half a decade earlier, he described the screenplay’s climatic battle as “Gotterdammerung! The twilight of the gods!”. With another five years passing since that screenplay was written, in Summer 1982 (concurrent with the climax of “The Great Darkness Saga”), Jack began a story arc that ran through Captain Victory #7–12 (August 1982–August 1983), wherein he directly presented his own resolution for the unfinished Fourth World saga. In it, Captain Victory conveyed that a “giant planet that blazes with unrestrained energies—a place of Ultimates” named Hellikost (clearly Apokolips) had “smashed for all time, a powerful sister planet” (New Genesis) in its conquest of the cosmos. There was an Ultimate War, “a final struggle in which frenzied gods vanished with their leaders in the flames of hate!… Hate so strong that it was able to salvage and give ‘half-life’ to the ‘thoughts and voice’ of its greatest disciple—!”. That disciple was Darkseid (here named Blackmass, but it was obvious who the character was meant to be), who survived only as a disembodied voice and shadowy silhouette. In one scene, Jack

depicted a giant floating piece of space shrapnel that resembled the villain, hinting that he was destroyed either in the final war (whether by Orion or not), or after trying to penetrate the Source Wall, like the Promethean Giants back in the introduction to New Gods #5. Captain Victory himself was slyly revealed to be Orion’s son (making Darkseid Captain Victory’s grandfather). As an eight-year-old child, the nameless waif befriended a sentient super-computer (paralleling Mother Box) named Turai (“Taaru,” anyone?). As the villain’s shadow descended upon a young Captain Victory in issue #12 [previous page, top], Blackmass’ ‘Voice’ screamed, “Whelp! How like your father you are!—A feisty, rebellious, arrogant warrior who delighted in tearing up my dreams!” The youngster killed the members of the planet’s ruling family (who all hinted at which Fourth World villain they descended from) before escaping on a thinly veiled AstroHarness, [below] fashioned “from a design known to my own father,” just as Turai used “equations conceived by great minds in our past”—equations of the anti-life variety, no doubt—to destroy Hellikost in a manner which was, according to Kirby, “apocalyptic in nature!”. While narrating this tale to his Galactic Rangers, a grown Captain Victory’s face distorted into a twisted, tormented version of his normal handsome self [bottom]—in a scene identical to Orion’s own use of his Mother Box to conceal his real Apokoliptian face. Captain Victory #12 revealed another family tie Kirby was considering, which I missed at the time it was originally published in the Summer of 1983. While he was conceiving that plotline, Jack assumed it was his one and only chance to give an ending of sorts to the Fourth World—as much as he could without using the official characters that were owned by DC. If he put in thinlydisguised references to both Darkseid and Orion in Captain Victory—plus descendants of Glorious Godfrey (Brother Pias) and Kalibak (Big Ugly)—doesn’t it stand to reason he’d also include a pivotal character like Mister Miracle somewhere?

[above] Compare this transformation in Captain Victory #11, to Orion’s much earlier transformation on page 90 of this book.

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Consider Argus Flane [left], a former member of the Galactic Rangers who used up his allotment of clone “lives,” and had only one left when we first meet him. In Greek mythology, Argus was the son of Zeus—and “Flane” means to idly walk by or saunter away. Since Scott Free was the son of Highfather, who walked away from Apokolips, these parallels can’t be a coincidence. I believe Flane was a grizzled, tired Scott Free, reduced to amusing himself by setting harder and harder traps for the “Mekkanos” that were constantly trying to kill him. (In the later prequel story to Hunger Dogs in New Gods reprint #6, Kirby showed Apokolips overrun by “Mekkanoids”...) As he aged, he took on the likeness of his father Izaya. A logical backstory would be that Scott lost his beloved Barda in the “final war” that was mentioned in Captain Victory #12. He escaped and found his way to the Galactic Rangers for a time, before exiling himself to live out his final days on an idyllic green planet like New Genesis—where he came across Orion’s son Captain Victory. That would mean Scott Free trained young Captain Victory (Orion’s son), in a direct parallel of how Himon trained Scott. And whether or not Kirby originally planned it in the 1970s, Scott Free’s real name, given him by Izaya and Avia before giving him up in “The Pact,” would seem to be “Argus.”

• Mister Miracle (typically) escaped the destruction of New Genesis and survived to old age (although Big Barda perished), and was able to train Orion’s son, thereby continuing the legacy set forth when Jack’s Thor mythology gave way to the Fourth World. Thus, Kirby set up the promise of yet another new generation of gods taking over from the old. Had Kirby told that exact story in the pages of DC’s 1970s comics, using the actual characters, at the height of his artistic abilities, it would’ve resulted in a pretty satisfying conclusion. As it was, this attempt at a New Gods ending provided what Jack must’ve thought was the only closure he’d have for the Fourth World—and it worked when viewed as the logical future after his initial DC storyline ended. But Paul Levitz and Jenette Kahn were working behind the scenes on an idea that would make amends for any unintentional slight Kirby may’ve felt from DC stepping on his toes, and would let Jack produce a more official resolution to the Fourth World.

So my main takeaway from Captain Victory was that Jack chose, at that point, to portray the Fourth World’s eventual future thusly: • Apokolips destroyed New Genesis in a final war, achieving victory over its sister planet. • Orion managed to forge a presumably peaceful life that included a wife and child before he died. It’s not clear whether he perished killing his father, or the two continued their stand-off to the end. • Darkseid survived after trying to penetrate the Source Wall, but only in disembodied form, still ruling Apokolips indirectly, with his same crew of lackeys (or their descendants) doing his dirty work. • Orion’s son somehow ended up on Apokolips (mimicking “The Pact”), being raised and abused in much the same way Scott Free had been as a child. • The Forever People’s communal Mother Box evolved into a giant sentient computer on Apokolips, before helping Orion’s son escape and destroying the planet, using the Anti-Life Equation.

Toying With A Return “The Great Darkness Saga” probably paved the way for Kirby to return to DC. Kirby was already a couple of issues into his Captain Victory/Fourth World tie-in saga when in Fall 1982, DC Comics contacted him about returning to his New Gods series. It’s unclear if someone at the company became aware Kirby was doing his own Fourth World ending in Captain Victory, and thus offered him the chance to do it properly at DC instead, using the actual characters—or whether it was just coincidental opportune timing brought about by an unrelated DC deal involving toys. After beating out Mattel in a bidding war, Kenner Toys struck a deal with DC Comics to produce an action-figure line dubbed Super Powers, and 140

DC publisher Jenette Kahn approached Kirby during a luncheon meeting in Beverly Hills, with a magnanimous gesture for the creator to share in the arrangement. DC would have Jack redesign some of the key New Gods characters for the Super Powers toy line, so that he could finally receive royalties on his creations. [ROZ KIRBY:] “Jenette Kahn has always been very kind to us and when [DC was] approached to do some toys, they wanted to do some New Gods figures, and she came in one day—she was at the Beverly Hills Hotel—and we had a meeting with her, and she said, ‘Look, we know what Marvel always did to you. You were always getting screwed all your life, and we want to be fair. We feel that you created this, and that you should get something out of it.’ They were very nice about it. We had nice meetings and they were very fair about it.” [JACK KIRBY:] “With that kind of management, a deal could be made on a humane level.” Jack and Roz Kirby interviewed by Gary Groth in Summer 1989, published in The Comics Journal #134, February 1990

Paul Levitz, with his long history in fandom, was the other driving force behind Kirby finally seeing some appreciation for his years of work at DC, and all he contributed to the company’s legacy. “We had begun to change the approach of the business to give talent a participation in their works a few years before, because comics had kind of reached a point where the creative talent pool was holding back. The deal for creating anything new was so nonexistent that there was no motivation to do it, and Jerry [Siegel] and Joe [Shuster, Superman’s co-creators] in particular were sort of sitting there as poster children for how badly the system could work out, never mind what deal was legal, moral... So the writers and artists were saying, ‘Ah, I’ll do your old characters, maybe I’ll give you a new villain once every 300 years, but I’m going to put the minimum possible in.’ And Jenette Kahn had come in at DC originally as publisher with a very strong… business sense, that this meant that the company was getting shorted on its future because we weren’t building anything, and very strong personal integrity that it was not morally right to be treating creative people that way, and argued through the corporate structure for the ability to give people equity in new things they were creating for the DC mythology. “…So we were sitting trying to figure out how to do a great line of Superman, Batman, Flash toys. And we started looking at the villains in the DC Universe, and they made pretty mediocre toys. The mix we had available at that time didn’t include a lot of characters who were powerful. ‘What we really need in this is a great villain.’ ‘Who does great villains?’ ‘Jack does great villains.’ ‘Did he do any for us?’ ‘Yeah, we’ve got Darkseid... and maybe we can do it... but it needs a little work creatively to figure out how to fit it with that, PAUL LEVITZ:

[previous page] Toy redesign for the Black Racer [top], and the Super Powers Darkseid figure [bottom]. [previous page, left] This two-pager from 1982’s Captain Victory #6 would seem to be an unused pre-existing concept, which Kirby worked into Captain Victory. Just as the name “Phantasmagloria” was originally considered for one of Mister Miracle’s Female Furies, surely this female character’s name, “Bloody Marrien,” was as well. [right] Three January 1983 designs for the Darkseid toy’s bunker.

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how to make great toys out of it. Who can we get to do it?’ ‘Well, why don’t we get Jack?’ And in the course of talking to him about it, we realized that we could get just enough new creative work out of that, that we could stare ourselves in the mirror and justify to the corporation that that was an acceptable excuse to kind of rewrite history and turn the clock back and say, ‘Well, Jack, in trade for doing this stuff, which we’ll pay you to do, we’ll also give you the kind of royalty from these characters that have not yet being exploited, as if you were creating them today.’ “And part of it was certainly that it was a good message to our competition. Part of it was a good message to our current talent to say, ‘Look, we have this toy project, look what happens, you can make some money on it.’ And partly because we really liked Jack. We really had tremendous respect for what he had done. During the period he was having a lot of problems with Marvel and really with his career in general, I think, in terms of career satisfaction. And we were able to work something out that was good for him and good for us at the same time. And that continues to earn the Estate money… That feels good when you see that check go out.” Paul Levitz at the Kirby Tribute Panel, held August 4, 2002 at Comic-Con International: San Diego

Jack and Roz heartily accepted DC’s generous offer, and in late 1982–early 1983, Kirby submitted to Kenner Toys his Super Powers action figure designs, featuring his Fourth World creations. Purists may view those re-designs (especially the one for Mantis, which bears no resemblance at all to his original incarnation) as borderline blasphemous, but Kirby had a toy company to please in order to finally receive much-deserved credit and compensation for his epic concepts—and that compensation extended beyond toys. “…we figured out that, ‘Well, we can’t completely undo the past… maybe we could justify going back and turn the clock back a [above] Kirby revisits Thor in a 1980s animation proposal for Ruby-Spears. Inks by Alfredo Alcala. little bit and give [Jack] a piece of the action on what would ultimately be the licensing and TV exposure, Back in 1978, Jack had plotted and helped produce the 16because we would integrate these characters into the Hanna-Barbera episode animated series Challenge of the Superfriends, which was Super Friends/Super Powers materials.’” produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, and ran from September Paul Levitz at the Kirby Tribute Panel, held July 23, 2017 at Comic-Con International: San Diego 9 to December 23, 1978 on ABC television. Kirby had also previously done conceptual and character drawings for other Super Friends animated series by Hanna-Barbera, but since he was now working exclusively for the Ruby-Spears animation studio, he couldn’t be a direct participant in any new H-B animated work. Still, Kirby would see his Fourth World toy re-designs incorporated into Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show, which aired from September 8, PAUL LEVITZ:

[above] Toy designs for Mantis, and the Mantis figure. [next page, top] Kirby previously had done character designs for HannaBarbera’s Challenge of the Superfriends and The World’s Greatest Superfriends. “Sir James” is from the October 6, 1979 episode, “Space Knights of Camelon,” while the Darkseid still is from a 1978 episode.

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1984–August 31, 1985 and interfaced with the toy line. A sequel cartoon show, The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians, ran during the 1985–1986 television season, and between 1985–87, Kenner Toys released eleven figures based on Kirby creations, plus vehicles, weapons, and accessories. A Darkseid’s Tower of Darkness playset was solicited as part of the Third Wave of figures, but was cancelled as the line was losing popularity in 1987—so only two prototypes of it exist, as seen in 1992’s Tomart’s Action Figure Digest #8 [right].

Hungering For More

Another part of the offer was for DC to thereafter include a “Created by Jack Kirby” credit on any comics which featured his characters, and for Kirby to receive royalties. Arrangements were also made to reprint his original elevenissue New Gods run in a quality Baxter Paper format. The reprint project began under Dick Giordano’s editorial oversight, with each of the first five issues planned for 48 pages of content—two stories reprinted per issue—and then the final issue would include a reprint of the 22-page New Gods #11, and a new story (considered to be New Gods #12) which Jack would create to tieup loose ends that remained with the abrupt cancellation of the title in 1972. It was a pretty low page count for Kirby to try to produce a worthy sequel to New Gods, but he gave it his best shot. That new story unfortunately got hyped as the “conclusion” readers never got to see during the Fourth World’s original run. So right out of the gate, expectations were set far too high—and likely much higher than when Jack signed on to do it. After years of gestating ideas in the 1960s, and three years executing those in the 1970s, how could Kirby be expected to wrap it all up in one 20-pluspage story? Let’s put ourselves in Kirby’s place, and see what else he was up against. At that point, DC had shown that Orion and Highfather would, sometime in their continuity’s future, meet their demise, while Darkseid survived. They’d also presented a conclusion of sorts in Adventure Comics #459-460, with

[above] Promotional poster for the New Gods reprint series, and Kirby’s original pencils for it. Billing the new story as the Fourth World’s “climax” set fans up for disappointment.

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Darkseid defeated and apparently dead—and then he returned in him and Himon risked becoming obsolete and irrelevant. Moreover, Justice League of America #183-185, during Summer 1980’s Justice it showed a mature Orion who’s realized his best way of defeating League/Justice Society crossover with the New Gods. Obviously, Darkseid was by stirring up and inspiring the Lowlies of Apokolips DC wouldn’t allow Jack to permanently kill off Darkseid, which was to overthrow his father, rather than battle him in a final physical what he’d hinted at repeatedly in interviews, saying a father could confrontation. It also showed the folly of the once-new generation never kill his son (thereby implying that any resof gods (represented by Esak), who were now in olution of the Orion/Darkseid father/son conflict charge and repeating the same mistakes the two would require the son to kill the father, and likely previous generations made—only in a more highassume his patriarchal role). tech manner. In the mass media outside comics, Kirby had The finished 25-page package was downright three Star Wars films to contend with. Any ending great if viewed as another episode in the Fourth to the father/son dynamic, with the main villain World series, and to me, it was a far better executed killed—likely by his shockingly-revealed son (à la story than what it got turned into for publication. The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi)— But right after Jack submitted it, problems began— might well be seen as Kirby copying George Lucas, and stay with me, as this can get confusing. Piecing the way many felt Lucas had copied Jack earlier. together the physical evidence, along with interSo instead, he fell back on his other main views, I believe this is the sequence of events that theme of the Fourth World; that of young gods led up to the Hunger Dogs graphic novel in its final taking over from the previous generation—but with form. a twist. In Spring 1983, Kirby drew a new tale, “On The Road To Armagetto.” It was a solid story, with Asking For Trouble the finest late-era penciling Jack produced before The New Gods reprint series ran without ads, health issues caused a sharp deterioration in his eyeand initially with 48 reprinted story pages per sight and work. It also appeared to be analogous to issue. The sixth issue [below] likewise was initially the biblical story of the apostle Paul’s conversion on [above] Silver Star #6 sent Jack’s scheduled to be another 48-pager, which would’ve the road to Damascus. career out with a bang, with his depiction encompassed a reprint of New Gods #11 (22 pages), of the Angel of Death destroying all life, In the Bible, Saul (Paul’s original name) was plus 26 new pages (Jack’s new 25-page story, plus a just as Kirby was concluding his return notorious for mercilessly persecuting and arresting one-page text piece). to New Gods [below]. Jesus’ disciples, and was determined to destroy the Even at 25 pages, the story Kirby turned in new Christian church (called “The Way”). The high didn’t actually end the New Gods saga; instead, it priest authorized Saul to arrest all of Jesus’ followers served more as just another installment taking place in the city of Damascus, and as he set out on the ten years later, and concluded with both Orion and road there, a blinding light struck him, and a voice Darkseid surviving, never having had their “final said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” After battle.” With both characters appearing in the spending three days totally blind in Damascus, upcoming Super Powers toy line and in animation, a disciple named Ananias restored his sight, and Kirby wouldn’t be able to present a to-the-death explained that God had chosen Saul to deliver the clash between father and son. That led to an unforgospel to the Gentiles and the people of Israel. After tunate disagreement between Dick Giordano and that life-changing conversion, Saul changed his name Kirby, that inadvertently brought us the Hunger to Paul, and outspokenly spread the teachings of Dogs graphic novel. Jesus throughout the ancient world. In “Road to Armagetto,” young Esak under“At one point, I said something to DICK went the reverse of the Apostle Paul’s conversion, GIORDANO: Jack on the phone that he comand in a flashback sequence, we got a sense of the pletely misunderstood and, if not journey he took from New Genesis to Apokolips. for Roz’s intervention, might have gotStarting as a follower of peaceful Highfather’s teachten ugly. We had advertised the graphic novel as a ings, he was horribly disfigured in an accident, and final episode in the New Gods saga and Jack’s script could no longer live on New Genesis as Orion had. He ended up a was veering dangerously away from that idea, and I cautioned him that slavish devotee of Darkseid, building high-tech weaponry for his war we shouldn’t lie to our readers. Jack, I think, viewed this as my calling effort. Only after a lethal confrontation with Orion did Esak finally him a liar, which of course wasn’t my intent! Thank God for Roz! If not revert back to the person he once was. for her, we would not have been able to get together for dinner with If you read that story on its own, you get the gist of what Jack and her at each of the subsequent San Diego cons while Jack was Kirby felt he could do to make a worthy continuation of the New still alive. After his passing, Roz would always greet me with a hug and Gods—but by no measure was it the “conclusion” that DC had a kiss when we met.” promised fans. It instead focused on an aging Darkseid bemoaning Dick Giordano interviewed by John Morrow via e-mail in September 2004 how new technology had usurped the old ways, and how men like Though Kirby and Giordano ironed out the misunderstanding eventually, at the point of the disagreement, [left] The splash page to “On The Road to Armagetto.” This opportunity was so important to him, that even after Royer applied his remarkable lettering skills, Jack felt the need to rewrite bits. Unfortunately, none of it appeared in the final, altered version.

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the project moved over to Joe Orlando, [left] who was spearheading the editing of DC’s new graphic novel line.

resulted in a final 72-page package (since commercial printing requires page counts in increments of eight). DC soon dropped the idea of that “Himon” reprint, but kept the expanded page count, giving Jack 48 new pages to create a prequel story to the graphic novel—one which would feature the climatic confrontation between Orion and Darkseid that DC had promoted. Surprisingly, D. Bruce Berry [above] was chosen to ink that prequel story, and the new graphic novel pages. Mike Royer has said he was never asked to ink the new material, and sadly, his finesse at polishing Kirby’s late era pencils wasn’t matched by Berry. While the finished inks don’t convey it, Jack’s pencil art on the rest of Hunger Dogs was mostly on par with the original 25-page story he drew. There was a telltale shakiness in his hand lettering in particular (due to a tremor he developed from health issues), but had Royer inked the entire graphic novel, the result would’ve been much more seamless and better appreciated. The 48-page prequel to Hunger Dogs was much more disappointing, however. Orion’s Astro-Harness, last seen when he used it to evacuate a young woman from battle in New Gods #6, did made a welcome reappearance in the opening salvo of “Even Gods Must Die!”. That new story, however, was more of an afterthought, and ended up being mostly a band-aid that would allow Jack, and DC, to move forward. Kirby had killed off several Fourth World characters at the end of his original run, and since they would be part of the new Super Powers toy line and animated television series, Jack was either directed to, or chose to, resurrect them in this leadin to Hunger Dogs. Thus, Steppenwolf, Kalibak, Desaad, and even Mantis (who didn’t officially die during Jack’s original series) were brought back to life, but presented by Jack as mere shells of their former selves. Now, instead of ending the series with the death of a major character (or possibly two), Kirby was bringing back characters he’d previously killed, for the sake of a toy line and cartoon show. Still, that lightweight story served a purpose beyond its narrative and fan appeal.

“Senior editor Joe Orlando was designated to approach Jack about revising it, and possibly allowing someone else to rewrite the material. Orlando, who was in a certain awe of Jack and fearful of offending him, phoned me for advice on how to raise the subject, and to ask if I’d be willing to do the rewrite, should Jack consent. I told him Jack would probably not be comfortable with any other writer and suggested he just approach him directly about revising the work himself. If Kirby asked me to help out, of course I would, but I didn’t see that happening. To my surprise—and a little horror—fanzines were soon reporting that I was busily rewriting [it]. That was never true, not even for a minute. (I didn’t even get around to reading it until years after it was published. I was quite glad that it was pure Kirby, undiluted by me or any other writer.) “A few weeks after his call to me, Orlando flew out to California, went to Jack’s house and told him he felt the story was weak and confusing. Jack replied, ‘You’re right,’ and said he could fix it if he had more pages. Joe said he’d arrange for that, and then he went and got into his trunks and jumped into the Kirbys’ swimming pool. Total time for the big confrontation he’d been dreading: About three minutes. And Jack did the rewrite/expansion all by himself.” Mark Evanier, Jack F.A.Q.s column, Jack Kirby Collector #38, Spring 2003

Orlando gave Jack a slot in DC’s new graphic novel line to expand his story, while keeping his original story in New Gods reprint #6. Jack then erased whatever he originally had in that lower right corner of page 23, and replaced it with a blurb about the upcoming graphic novel [above], to be titled The Hunger Dogs. Mike Royer then inked and lettered the original 25-page story at night and on weekends while employed full-time as an artist for Disney. Royer, in typical fashion, accentuated Kirby’s pencils expertly, this time adding a needed polish to Jack’s slightly diminished pencil work. But one problem remained: The story still didn’t offer the “climax” DC had promised readers. Orlando’s assistant editor on the line recalled what happened next.

“The people at DC, Paul Levitz and Jenette Kahn, did an enormously nice thing by cutting Jack in on the money that came from the Kenner Toys and the Hanna-Barbera usage of Darkseid, Desaad and all those characters. They didn’t have to because they were created before they started their creator participation contract. But I think DC saw the public relations wisdom and the essential decency of doing so. So Jack got a couple of nice checks for the fact that there was an Orion doll and Darkseid was on Super Friends. If Jack had wrapped-up the series the way he originally intended to, an awful lot of those characters would’ve been killed. He liked not only the symbolism of those checks, that he was getting a profit participation in his creations, but I think he wanted to see them continue for Roz, and I think he understood that DC didn’t want the series ended to the point where they couldn’t use the characters again. He couldn’t give them the old ending he’d been thinking of for those reasons; and also, because the foundation for it had never been laid down—he’d never gotten far enough in that story to do that ending in twenty or fifty or even a

“We drafted a letter to Jack and, I believe, it was Len [Wein] who suggested that Jack use what he had turned in as the centerpiece of the [graphic novel] story, but write another story which would encompass his present story and make it more complete. Jack was not happy, and I know this because he told me so, but being the gentleman he was, he agreed to do it.” NICK CUTI:

Nick Cuti, interviewed by John Morrow in 2006

And so, Jack took his 25-page completed story and reworked it into the 64-page Hunger Dogs graphic novel, and changed the page 23 blurb again to the published version [right]. It summed up his philosophy about his gods and politics, hearkening back to the rationale behind his classic “Death Wish of Terrible Turpin” story from 1971. Since Himon was a big part of Jack’s story, at some point DC decided that New Gods reprint #6 would need to include Mister Miracle #9 to get readers up to speed—which 145

hundred pages. So my guess is that Jack sat down and said, ‘DC wants an ending. What kind of ending can I do without destroying these characters?’” Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

As a “conclusion,” the prequel story in New Gods reprint #6 delivered to an extent. The long prophesied “last battle” between Darkseid and Orion did take place, but literally within its last two pages. True to his word, Kirby couldn’t depict Darkseid actually killing his own son, but instead had his best marksmen gun him down, in a final page that had obvious editorial lettering changes by DC’s staff—leading me to wonder just what Kirby originally put on those pages. His usual straightforward storytelling was hampered by some odd, experimental page layouts that required arrows to point the reader in the right direction to follow the narrative—something not needed in any of Kirby’s prior work, other than his earliest 1940s pages. Regardless, Orion appeared to be dead at the end of “Even Gods Must Die!” (only to be resurrected in Hunger Dogs for a final non-confrontation with his father). Other than that, there was little in it of note, except a brief cameo by Granny Goodness and the Female Furies, sans Barda [below]. Reverse-engineering a lead-in to his graphic novel story (which itself was stretched longer than originally planned) made it a bit anti-climatic and futile. Whole multi-page sequences were filler, with meaningless fights and little dialogue, and there was a sense that Kirby’s heart just wasn’t fully in it.

Mike Royer’s masterful lettering for the new cover of the fourth New Gods reprint issue.

Wrapping It Up Throughout Summer and Fall 1983, Kirby drew new covers for the New Gods reprint series. On November 3, 1983, DC issued a press release about Jack’s return, mentioning his upcoming work for the company (“new covers, pin-ups, and back-ups as needed”), and a completely new sequel (“Hunger Dogs, which he will write, draw, and edit”). The press release also announced that Jack would plot, and then draw the fifth issue of, a Super Powers mini-series featuring the Justice League of America and Darkseid, and then work on a subsequent twelve-issue maxiseries as well. For Hunger Dogs, Greg Theakston [below], who was then inking Jack’s new work on the Super Powers mini-series, regrettably re-inked the faces and select parts of the original Royer- and Berry-inked Hunger Dogs pages, adding a third inking style to the mix. Theakston claimed doctoring it up was necessary, either because Jack neglected to follow DC’s instructions, or Joe Orlando neglected to inform Jack of the new graphic novel format. “[Kirby’s original 25-page story] was done in a comic book format, which was 150% larger than the size it was to be printed; graphic novels were being done at 200%. So there was a discrepancy in the sizes. Somewhere along the line, the pages were photostatted at the same size they were drawn, and glued to the 200% graphic novel paper. So Kirby had to fill out the top, bottom, and side margins. If the editor had instructed the production department to blow up the pages to GREG THEAKSTON:

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graphic novel size, Kirby wouldn’t have needed to draw out the panels on all four sides. It ruined his compositions. If you look carefully in Hunger Dogs, all of the pages where the type falls to the center of the page are the pages from the original comic book. Any page that has dialogue all the way to the border was done specifically for the graphic [left to right] Kirby’s pencils, Royer’s inks, and Theakston’s re-inking (on a vellum overlay). DC has since restored the Royer inks. novel. D. Bruce Berry ended up inking the new graphic novel pages. In the photostatic process, the Royer could to help align the clash of the two styles. So for five or six days, I pages were photostatted rather dark, so the line weight beefed up. You worked for free, trimming back some of Royer’s linework so the weight had pages with beefy [Royer] linework on a photostat, and incredibly was a little bit lighter, and beefing up some of D. Bruce Berry’s work. In light [Berry] feathering filling out the margin. There was a big discrepsome cases I simply reinked the material.” ancy visually. Greg Theakston interviewed by John Morrow on August 28, 1997, published in Jack Kirby Collector #17 “So I was looking at this mishmash of style, and [Joe Orlando’s Assistant Editor Andy] Helfer says, ‘Do you want to color this?’ And I Simply reshooting 25 pages of art at the correct size and exposaid, ‘Absolutely. In fact, would you mind terribly if I took these with me sure would’ve alleviated all that extra work and time for both Kirby and worked on them?’ And they said they’d love me to do whatever I and Theakston [above and below], so it would appear there was some hubris involved in Greg’s insistence on getting involved in the inking. Still, one of Kirby’s former assistants felt that expanding Jack’s original story into Hunger Dogs probably was not the best idea in the first place. “They’d decided to expand it into a graphic novel and give Jack a little more room, which probably didn’t help, especially since the material he’d already done was not his original ending, but a new plot he’d invented for the occasion. Jack did the new pages and they jigsawed what he’d already done, relettered parts of it, reinked some of it. And they ended up with this book that I don’t think pleased anybody. Also, I suspect Jack was not able to recreate his thought processes of the years before. He probably looked back at those issues and went, ‘Why did I do this again?’ It was 15 years later, and Jack had changed in that time. A lot had changed in his life. I think he found himself needing to pick up themes that no longer interested him, and characters that he had long since abandoned. But at least something came out of it financially for him, and there was a little sense of closure there.” Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for TJKC #6

Reading between the lines, you can imagine a backstory where Highfather sent Metron away on a mission (perhaps to find the banished Forever People), and that resulted in Esak’s downfall. Did Esak’s betrayal and semi-redemption in Hunger Dogs match Jack’s original plans for him?

[above] Kirby had to extend the art on stats of the Royer-inked pages, to fit the graphic novel format.

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“The whole New Gods thing is really about generations and about how one generation assumes the burdens and responsibilities of the one before it. Someplace buried deep in there, there’s probably a few subtle subtext where Jack was writing about the hopes and fears he had for the next generation taking over for his—I mean the new generation that he knew would take over the comic book industry as well as the new generation that he knew would take over America and the world. And maybe one of the reasons he couldn’t return to New Gods and wrap it all up is that, between the time he originally

did the series and the time he went back and did Hunger Dogs, his thoughts and hopes about the next generation had matured and advanced. The whole mood of the country was different, the whole mood of the comic book business was different, Jack’s whole standing in his field was different, and so on. Now, all I really know about Esak in the original series is that the Forever People and Orion and Mister Miracle and Lightray represented the next generation to Jack... and Esak represented the generation after them. I’m sure Jack had in mind that Esak’s generation would figure into any conclusion, possibly personified by Esak, possibly by other characters who would have been introduced. But I would be guessing wildly if I told you exactly how.” Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

The amount of thought Jack put into including Fourth World ties in Captain Victory earlier could also explain the somewhat unsatisfying Hunger Dogs wrap-up. Having already used these ideas, it certainly limited what he would be able to do right afterward at DC, since he wouldn’t want it to be seen as a mere rehash of Captain Victory. That might also help explain why Mister Miracle and Big Barda, rather surprisingly, never appeared in Hunger Dogs or its prequel tie-in story—Jack had mentally ended their saga already. Still, links to, and payoffs from, Jack’s original Fourth World run were evident. The environmental contamination of New Genesis seen in Hunger Dogs, was foretold both in the Vykin back-up in New Gods #7 (which led to the revelation of Forager and the Bug Colony in New

[top right] Off-camera, Kirby himself speaks introspectively to Highfather at the end of Hunger Dogs. Jack concluded both Captain Victory [above] and Hunger Dogs [below] with collages, finally able to take advantage of modern full-color print reproduction. While the published Hunger Dogs ended with Metron’s arrival [above], Kirby at one point considered wrapping it all up with this soliloquy from Highfather [right].

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“An End to Power and Exodus From Eden!” “This is the only rational answer to the continuing, growing presence of the ‘unthinkable!’ “With the ‘Source’ in our vanguard, let us abandon New Genesis. Let Darkseid live with the ‘Balance of Terror!’ “Let us choose another shore... A friendly cosmos… A way to sacrifice and win! “Thus, I set these words down on a day when ‘Doomsday’ is peddled by small beings for smaller coin...” – Highfather

A Last Super Hurrah

Gods #9), and the Big Bear/Serafin short in Forever People #6 (where Serifan protested against Apokolips soldiers bringing a “horribly ugly pollutant” to the planet). Both of those stories traced their roots back to the hippie environmentalism movement at the center of the news in the late 1960s, no doubt championed by Kirby’s own teenage kids of the time. The first Clean Air Act was passed in 1967, along with the first federal emissions standards for automobiles. Closer to home for Jack, the 1969 Union Oil well spill in Santa Barbara, California left more than 200,000 gallons of oil floating in the Pacific Ocean over eleven days. The American public became aware of the plight of the bald eagle and other animals on the new Endangered Species list, and a grassroots movement slowly took place, culminating in the first Earth Day “teach-in” on April 22, 1970— just as Kirby was putting pencil to paper on his earliest Fourth World stories. Though Jack never got to depict an extended sequence of the youth of Supertown warning their elders about the environmental hazards their planet was facing, it’s not a stretch to think that was somewhere in the back of Jack’s mind in 1970, and that may’ve been in his longrange plans all along. Perhaps that’s why he chose to make a floating city on the planet New Genesis, a move which finally paid off when it soared away to safety in the conclusion of Hunger Dogs, and Metron made a last page appearance hauling a new planet for it to rest on. Orion got a happy ending in Hunger Dogs, by finally realizing the unfound love he soliloquized about in New Gods #9, through Himon’s daughter Bekka. He rescued his mother Tigra from Darkseid’s clutches (carrying through a subplot from Mister Miracle #7-8). And were we to believe that Himon actually died in the graphic novel, considering he escaped death innumerous times in his original Fourth World appearance? While not totally creatively fulfilling, the Hunger Dogs graphic novel gave an official ending of sorts to the Fourth World saga, and left Darkseid’s regime in ruins on Apokolips. But Kirby made it clear that, despite the Hunger Dogs’ uprising, that tyrant would rebuild— giving a segue that fits nicely between the Fourth World’s 1972 cancellation, and Jack’s future version of it in Captain Victory.

By February 1984, when the first New Gods reprint issue went on sale, Kirby had already plotted all five issues of the first Super Powers mini-series (to complement the toy line and first season of the Super Powers cartoon show), drawn all five covers, and was working on his 23-page story for Super Powers #5. It gave fans a chance to see Jack tackle a slew of DC characters he’d never drawn before in comics, from Batman and the Flash, to Hawkman and Wonder Woman, plus villains like the Joker

[right] Some still very solid penciling by Kirby, from Super Powers I, issue #5. The story was a curious blend of the seriousness of Hunger Dogs, with the lightweight entertainment of a Superfriends animated TV episode.

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and the Penguin. And while the revelation of Darkseid as the antagonist of the series was a bit anti-climatic—it seemed obvious from the outset that he’d show up since Jack was involved—it made 1984 a joyous year for Kirby fans, as The King took a victory lap. On February 6, 1985, DC issued another press release announcing the imminent publication of the Hunger Dogs graphic novel. Previously scheduled for Fall 1984 release, it was finally published on February 26, 1985. Still, age and health issues were taking their toll, and while Jack was initially scheduled to plot a 12-issue maxi-series to follow the first Super Powers run, it was shortened to a six-issue mini-series for him to draw from Paul Kupperberg’s script. Here was another chance for Kirby to depict some DC characters for the first time (Firestorm, Martian Manhunter, Red Tornado, and Dr. Fate had been added to the toy line, and were now in the comic book), and it coincided with the 1985–1986 Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians animated TV show. But that second Super Powers comics series wasn’t easy for Jack, as confirmed by the inker of the book. “Frequently during Super Powers, Kirby was drawing characters that he had no empathy for whatsoever. Green Lantern was consistently wrong. He didn’t memorize the costumes; it was torture for him. At this point in his career, Jack was getting pretty tired of doing comics. He was used to a regimen of single concept illustrations for television cartoon episodes, done three times up; enormous drawings. He was back now to doing six- to eight-panel comic book pages, with 22-page stories. He swore he would never do a GREG THEAKSTON:

regular comic book again after Super Powers. It was a big grind on him. The pages would come to me in batches of three or four pages at a time. The first page was always very strong; the last page was weak. He was losing steam; he couldn’t do three or four sparkling pages a day, but that was the schedule.” Greg Theakston interviewed by John Morrow on August 28, 1997, published in Jack Kirby Collector #17

A review of the pencil art from Super Powers II [left] confirms the level of decline Kirby’s pencil work had reached by that point, which was dramatic when compared to the last issue of the first Super Powers miniseries. Still, there were flashes of brilliance throughout, and when viewed more as a fun diversion from the original Fourth World epic, rather than an installment of it, Super Powers put a nice coda on his previously unfinished symphony, and was enjoyable reading, warts and all. Ironically, a third Super Powers mini-series was published during the summer of 1986, without Kirby’s involvement. For the first time, Orion and Mister Miracle were incorporated into the storyline (due to their being added to the third series of toy releases by Kenner, based on Kirby’s earlier toy re-designs). And the artist who drew that final capstone on Kirby’s Fourth World epic? Carmine Infantino, the man who’d cancelled the series in 1972. Jack’s final Fourth World stint encompassed these key releases: New Gods reprint #1: published February 21, 1984

Super Powers I #1: published April 3, 1984 New Gods reprint #6: published July 17, 1984 Super Powers I #5: published July 31, 1984 Hunger Dogs graphic novel: published February 26, 1985 Super Powers II #1: published May 21, 1985 Super Powers II #6: published October 22, 1985, effectively ending Kirby’s career in comics. 150

During that time, Kirby was asked by Len Wein to pencil numerous pin-ups for Who’s Who, DC’s encyclopedic series documenting statistics on its heroes and villains. Due to the voluminous number of characters Kirby had created for the company, his illos appeared frequently between issue #2 (published December 24, 1984, featuring characters whose names started with the letter “B”) through #25 (for “V” and “W” names, going on-sale November 25, 1986). Kirby’s final published illustrations of Fourth World characters at DC were for the cover of 1987’s Secret Origins #19 (which featured a pre-cloned 1940s-era Guardian), and for 1988’s History of the DC Universe hardcover limited edition. The latter featured Darkseid by Jack [above], as one of a multitude of DC characters on a pull-out “jam” poster by various artists. It also presented a Kirby illustration which included Darkseid, Kalibak, Lightray, Mister Miracle, and Orion, to accompany a two-page text article by Jack entitled “Even the Gods Have Flaws.”

Roz and Jack Kirby at the 1983 San Diego Comic-Con.

“Jack, for the rest of his life—because the struggles with Marvel in one fashion or another went on past his own lifetime—Jack and Roz were both kind enough on any number of occasions to express their joy that... they didn’t make a ton of money off Darkseid and the New Gods material, but they got to take pride in the fact that they were making money off it, and were making more money off it than they were making off all of his creations for the rest of the Marvel Universe. I’m PAUL LEVITZ:

thrilled he’s now made a lot more money off the Marvel characters... but I’m really happy to have made him happy during his lifetime and— hopefully, I don’t know—bought Lisa a Christmas present somewhere in the process, or bought the bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah present for one of the grandchildren along the way, or something useful and made their life a tiny bit better.” Paul Levitz at the Kirby Tribute Panel, held July 23, 2017 at Comic-Con International: San Diego

For all frustrations they’d caused in the past, DC had finally done right by Jack, and atoned for his real-life turmoil on the Fourth World.

[above and right] The Kirbys at home, November 1989.

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Post-Apokolips

ther creators have made good and bad use of Jack’s Fourth World characters and concepts following 1985’s Hunger Dogs and second Super Powers series, and in the process, added to its lasting legacy. Here are the key ones that occurred during the Jenette Kahn and Paul Levitz era—the time period I feel DC was the most reverent toward Kirby and his work.

“In comics, which is a peculiar field, every man—every artist—is the other artist’s teacher. There’s absolutely no school for it. People can teach you the mechanics of it, which is good. I can see a good reason for that. But drawing a good figure does not make you a good artist. I can name you ten men, right off the bat, who draw better than I do. But I don’t think their work gets as much response as mine. I can’t think of a better man to draw Dick Tracy than Chester Gould, who’s certainly no match for Leonardo da Vinci. But Chester Gould told the story of Dick Tracy, the way it should’ve been told. No other guy could’ve done it. So it’s not in the draftsmanship; it’s in the man.”

LEGENDS, ACTION COMICS AND SUPERMAN (1986-1987) In Legends, Darkseid plotted to eradicate the legendary super-heroes Jack Kirby at the San Diego Comic-Con, held August 1-3, 1970 of Earth. This six-issue mini-series by John Byrne, in many ways, was a better drawn, and better written, version of FOREVER PEOPLE (1988) Super Powers—allowed to tell a more sophistiOther than a brief flashback cameo in cated story, since it wasn’t directly influenced Conway’s 1970s New Gods revival, this was the by a kids’ toy line and cartoon series. Byrne then turned Action first attempt to bring Kirby’s young gods back Comics into a Superman team-up title, several times featuring Fourth from their banishment at the end of Forever World characters. Byrne’s most notorious storyline was in issues People #11 in 1972. It featured some lively art #592-593, where he created the Apokolips villain Sleez, who nearly by Paris Cullins, but writer J.M. DeMatteis succeeded in forcing Superman and Big Barda to make a porno film injected a much darker tone than Kirby ever together. (Seriously, that’s the plot, misguided though it was.) Byrne had. While great to see the characters finally showed some genuine affection and reverence for the Kirby characrescued from limbo, the end result was a group ters in other Action issues, however, as well as in his simultaneous whose personalities seemed, to me at least, too Superman series, where Darkseid remained a recurring threat. inconsistent with Kirby’s run. But the writer was looking to do more than slavishly copy Kirby’s approach. MISTER MIRACLE SPECIAL (1987) “My idea going in was to update the characters... J.M. DeMATTEIS: This delightful romp by Mark Evanier and yet remain true to their essence. The Forever and Steve Rude included all the old favorites People, as I’ve noted, were very much a product of from Kirby’s series, including Big Barda, the 1960s: super-powered flower children. And, by Oberon, Darkseid and his minions, and even extension, they were symbols of the innocence, energy and naiveté of Funky Flashman. Rude’s art beautifully evoked all youth. I wanted to move them into the 1980s and to use the series the feel of Kirby’s style, without slavishly copyas an examination of the way that generation had changed since the ing Kirby’s trademark artistic tics. days of the Counter Culture. My feeling was that the ideals of that 1960s generation—the ideals of all youth, really—were extremely naive “Y’know, we’d all seen the Kirby and untested. It’s easy to sing ‘All You Need Is Love,’ but how do you STEVE characters done at that point by live that? The 1970s and 1980s hurled people, with headsmashing RUDE: different artists, and they were all less than satisfying. impact, into the wall of the so-called Adult World, where many of those You can’t do Kirby characters without entering into the visuideals exploded on impact. The challenge for the Forever People (and al world of him… some people up at DC really got ticked off at me for for all of us as we go through life, regardless of the era we grew up in) trying to emulate Kirby’s style. To me, there’s no other way but to do it was to have their youthful ideals burned in the fires of practicality and like that. I grew up in high school training to draw like Jack Kirby. That’s responsibility, disappointment and despair—all the pain and the strugwhat I wanted to do. Eventually other influences come into your life gles of that Adult World—and then see which of those ideals survived. I and you become your own man, but that influence was so strong.” believe it’s not about giving up on your ideals.” Steve Rude interviewed by John Morrow on November 6, 1998, published in Jack Kirby Collector #22

J.M. DeMatteis interviewed by Douglas Toole in January 2006

COSMIC ODYSSEY (1988) Jim Starlin, a big fan of Kirby’s original Fourth World run, had previously created the Marvel villain Thanos as a sort of amalgam of Darkseid and Metron. Teaming with then-newcomer Mike Mignola as artist, the pair produced this sprawling mini-epic that managed to brilliantly focus on Forager, and even include Kirby’s Demon in the mythos.

SWAMP THING #62 (1987) An introspective story by Rick Veitch that was more about Darkseid and Metron’s relationship, than Swamp Thing. It may not’ve been what Kirby intended for the characters, but it’s a fascinating take, and highly recommended. 152

At the time, Mignola hadn’t yet learned to fully appreciate Kirby. “I knew Kirby was behind all this, but I wasn’t sitting down looking at Jack’s books until I did Cosmic Odyssey for DC. I was using Kirby for reference, and it was like a light bulb going off! I’m not happy with my work on Cosmic Odyssey—I got super-heroes out of my system, which I guess is a good thing—but the best thing that came out of that period is I had Kirby on the drawing table so much of the time. I’d seen the New Gods, but never read it; I really didn’t care that much about it, but to work off of that, and learn, ‘Wow, that figure doesn’t make any sense, but boy does that thing move! There’s power there!’—I started realizing all the guys out drawing super-hero comics were looking at this stuff! Everybody should, because comics are so boring compared to this! There’s different kinds of people doing different kinds of comics, but if you’re doing super-hero comics, you should really be looking at Kirby’s work.” MIKE MIGNOLA:

it toward the darker style of stories that permeated comics in the 1990s. The venerable John Byrne stepped in to both script and draw #12-15, bringing back the Forever People (this time much more in-keeping with Kirby’s original incarnations), before the title morphed into Jack Kirby’s Fourth World. In the interim, Byrne had given us a DC/Marvel crossover—1995’s Darkseid vs. Galactus: The Hunger—which presented more of his takes on Fourth World characters. Byrne was an obvious choice for that project, having previously produced a successful run on Fantastic Four which evoked the Lee/Kirby run in many ways.

Mike Mignola interviewed by Jon B. Cooke on November 8, 1998, published in Jack Kirby Collector #22

NEW GODS (1989-1991) The follow-up to Cosmic Odyssey, Mark Evanier and Paris Cullins’ New Gods run, oddly started with a single issue before being derailed with issues #2-4 scripted by Jim Starlin. Evanier returned for #5-on, with mixed results.

“Several less-than-stellar post-Kirby interpretations of the characters and concepts had severely tarnished the Fourth World mythos in the minds and hearts of fans… so I saw my primary job to be doing everything I could to polish it up again, and to get people paying attention. In that I think I was successful, for the most part. “There is so much to [Metron] that Kirby barely hinted at. I was amazed, for instance, reading over the Kirby stuff in order to start my series, when I noticed a line that referred to Metron as being ‘of neither Apokolips or New Genesis,’ but ‘something else.’ I’d completely missed that the many other times I had read the books. That informed my portrayal of Metron a lot! I also found the Forever People—who, despite having their own title, never really rose above ‘supporting’ roles in the whole scheme of things—a lot of fun to play with.” JOHN BYRNE:

“They wanted me to do a new first issue, then print the three issues by the other writer, then I would come in on #5 and #6 and wrap up his storylines. So right there you have six issues where no one was at the wheel. If the first six issues of your comic are pulled in all different directions and don’t make any sense, it’s kind of hard to course-correct after that... On top of that, we had enormous deadline problems. Paris was getting yanked off for other DC projects, so I was dialoguing pages on the fly. They would suddenly send me pages 2, 9, 14, 17, and 18, and say, ‘Here, dialogue these.’ And I would have no idea what was happening on the other pages, because Paris was adding to the plots. By the time Paris left the book, I was so mired in the wrong direction I didn’t know how to get out of it. It was not a very good comic and I deserve a pretty good share of the blame.”

Despite all his previous work on Kirby’s characters, when asked what his most lasting impact on the New Gods canon was, he pivoted to one of the key things Kirby never got to reveal in his original run.

At one point, DC had plans to do an ongoing New Gods series with Evanier and Rude, due to the success of their Mister Miracle Special—but it was not to be.

“...the ‘origin’ of Darkseid. At least, most people I have talked to seemed unaware that the whole Drax/Uxas/Infinity Pit storyline was entirely my invention, and not merely retelling something Kirby set up. “Unless they are handed off to someone who really understands what to do with them—who understands that the key job is preserving Kirby’s legacy and not using his characters and concepts to make a name for himself—I would almost rather see them lay fallow for a while.”

“Steve and I would’ve been completely in sync on that. This was after the continuing series, and it kept changing editors at DC. What happened was that Steve had a specific window in his schedule... he could only do the project between specific dates. There was some sort of miscommunication between the editor and myself and Steve over when I would turn in the script and when Steve would start on it. One day, all of a sudden, Steve was ready to start on it, and nobody had given me the go-ahead on the script. That caused Steve to go off on another project.”

John Byrne interviewed by Douglas Toole in May 2005

SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (1996-2000) In the 1990s Superman: The Animated Series show, Detective Dan “Terrible” Turpin’s look was modeled on Jack Kirby, and voiced by Joseph Bologna in a gruff Kirby-fied tone. Showrunners Bruce Timm and Paul Dini injected

Mark Evanier interviewed in 1995 by John Morrow for Jack Kirby Collector #6

NEW GODS (1995-1997) DARKSEID VS. GALACTUS: THE HUNGER (1995) JACK KIRBY’S FOURTH WORLD (1997-1998) Rachel Pollack wrote this 1995 New Gods series (initially with Tom Peyer), and Luke Ross was the original penciler. Pollack chose not to try to devotedly follow Kirby’s work, but instead take 153

I had story goals, certainly. I wanted to focus on Orion—my favorite New Gods character—and tell a story of his temptation, fall and redemption. I had not written out all the details in the beginning. I just knew generally how it was going to go. I used the first few issues to come out of John [Byrne’s] stories, to get the characters where I wanted them in order to do an Orion/Darkseid showdown in issue #5. I was guided there because Jack had set up the prophecy of the father-son battle in New Gods. Jack never finished that story, so that story will always be redone the way that in Thor, people will always do Ragnarok. Ragnarok’s such a great story. And the unfinished potential of the Darkseid/Orion fight will always exist as well. But I wanted to do that and get it over with and then go somewhere else. I did not want it looming over the series. And with the fight out of the way, I thought I could take the character of Orion somewhere unexpected. I wanted to create a series of stories where the reader would not know what would happen next. That’s what cool stories ought to be. “I don’t think the Fourth World characters have been integrated very convincingly into the DC Universe. I also think that a lot of the people who read the DC Universe books aren’t big fans of the Fourth World material. It’s pure Jack Kirby, and different from the classic DC books. Mostly there’s sort of an uncomfortable marriage between the Fourth World material and the rest of the DC Universe... but for me, it’s the best stuff of Jack’s that I ever read, his most personal work. It might have been scripted to make it more generally accessible for a broader audience, but if that had happened, I believe the work wouldn’t be as memorable... as it is, it kind of stands by itself as a testament to one man’s genius.”

numerous Fourth World characters and sub-plots throughout the series, including a delightfully wicked turn for Granny Goodness, voiced by Emmy Award-winning actor Ed Asner. “Apokolips... Now!” was a two-part episode in the show’s second season, originally airing on February 7 and 14, 1998. This tour de force featured most of Kirby’s main Fourth World cast of heroes and villains. In it, Turpin saved the day (à la New Gods #8), but perished in the process. The citizens of Metropolis attended a touching rabbi-led funeral for Turpin, in a fitting tribute to Kirby (the episode was dedicated to Jack). Timm, like Steve Rude, was one of the few creators who “got” Kirby, without copying him. “When we were doing Superman, we were trying to find interesting villains for him to come up against. The regular Superman villains are pretty uninteresting and most of them are fifty-year-old fat guys in suits. We figured, ‘Well, there’s Darkseid; let’s definitely use Darkseid in the show.’ So Paul Dini and I were sitting around one day trying to figure out what we were going to do with Darkseid and the New Gods, and we just started throwing out ideas. For one thing, what does Darkseid want? It’s not enough for him to conquer the Earth; why does he want to conquer the Earth? We went back to the comics to figure out: What is Darkseid’s motivation, and what is the Anti-Life Equation? We decided we couldn’t figure it out ourselves. We got the idea that maybe even Jack didn’t know what he was doing! He had this really cool idea and even if he had something that he meant to do with it in the comics, the series was cancelled before he had a chance to. The Anti-Life Equation makes sense in the comics but it’s kind of a big nebulous thing, and we only have 20 minutes—or at most 40 minutes—to tell a story. So we had to make it easy for eight-year-olds to understand. Our version of the Anti-Life Equation is basically that he feeds on the despair of people, so that’s why he wants Earth and that’s why he wants to destroy Superman. He’s going to come to Earth and take their greatest hero and reduce him to nothing. He’s going to feed off the despair of the entire planet. Then I came up with the idea that he’s going to set off a bomb on a nuclear power plant and basically set up a burn hole through the Earth, to turn Earth into Apokolips II. The story idea just kind of blew back and forth. I wanted Superman to sit out the whole climax; I didn’t want Superman to be the hero. Darkseid’s idea was, if he totally defeated Superman, human beings would be so shell-shocked and disheartened by it that they would just give up easily, and I said, ‘That’s not right.’ “I wanted humanity to be the hero, not Superman. That’s where the whole thing with Turpin came about; we thought Turpin should be the guy. It’s like that story that Kirby did, the one where Turpin dukes it out with Kalibak, but just by his own will power he dominates.” BRUCE TIMM:

Walter Simonson interviewed by Douglas Toole on March 21, 2005

SOME LESSER GODS In 1993, Topps Comics tried to recapture a bit of Kirby’s desired Fourth World approach in its Secret City Saga. Jack had originally wanted to hand off the Fourth World art chores to other artists (Wally Wood on Orion/ New Gods, John Romita or Steve Ditko on Mister Miracle, and Romita or Don Heck on Forever People), and oversee the series as an editor and creative director. In that vein, Topps went about developing a “Kirbyverse” from a batch of leftover Kirby concepts that Jack provided—including Bombast and Captain Victory/Captain Glory [above], a couple of Kirby’s original concept drawings from the 1960s that never made it into the Fourth World. Topps had classic Marvel Bullpenners each work on one title of the series, but even the talents of Roy Thomas, John Severin, Steve Ditko, Dick Ayers, and Don Heck couldn’t sustain that new effort in the glutted, speculatorfueled comics market of the times. Topps folded its comics line before a planned relaunch of Kirby’s Captain Victory got off the ground. The television show Lois And Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman began its debut 1993-1994 season with a few nods to Kirby, building off some of what he introduced in the early 1970s. While Lex Luthor, rather than Morgan Edge, took over control of the Daily Planet, Jack’s hi-tech criminal mob Inter-Gang was a recurring menace during the show’s first season (although there was never any mention of Darkseid being behind the organization). A Superman clone, created by Luthor (perhaps inspired by Morgan Edge’s in Lois Lane) appeared in one episode. And for a couple of episodes, the Jimmy Olsen character hung out with a rough-aroundthe-edges street kid, reminiscent of the Newsboy Legion’s Scrapper. The kid got a job at the Daily Planet, and wouldn’t you know it? His name turned out to be “Jack.”

Bruce Timm interviewed by George Khoury in 1998

ORION (2000-2002) Following on the heels of John Byrne’s work on Jack Kirby’s Fourth World, this series was, for me, the most satisfying comics-based use of the Fourth World characters (postKirby), and in particular its first ten issues were spectacular. Having utilized Darkseid almost 20 years prior for 1982’s X-Men/Teen Titans crossover book, Simonson already had the villain down pat. With an acclaimed run on Thor under his belt, he was ready to expand the story of another Kirby god. WALTER SIMONSON:

“I had a lot of editorial freedom. And I did really terrible things to Orion. I blinded him, I rendered him catatonic, I gave him the Anti-Life Equation… 154

WORLD

TAARU! I Have Heard The Word—It Is Legacy

“Nor will I: ever write a word that fades in light, this I must be certain; else lay desolate at bight.”

AFTER

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, by Omar Khayyam

t’s now been over half a century since Jack Kirby’s Fourth World debuted, and its influence is still being felt, even if the general public isn’t always aware of it. Though comics are waning in popularity, television and film are more high profile than ever, and Kirby’s gods, old and new, are along for the ride. Those god creations lived on indirectly through Thanos (a character inspired by both Darkseid and Metron) and others in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Asgard, Ragnarok, Ego the Living Planet, and the Celestials were in the Thor and Guardians of the Galaxy films, which took heavy inspiration from Jack’s work for their production design, sets and costuming. DC got into the game on the small and big screens as well. In Season Four of the Flash TV show (2017-2018), the central villain, the Thinker, departed from his traditional comic book depiction. Here he was a very Metron-looking character, who floated around on a conveyance that’s a dead ringer for the Mobius Chair. More recently, Steppenwolf, Mother Boxes, Boom Tubes, and Para-demons appeared in the Justice League movie, which was re-released in 2021 in an extended Director’s Cut, with previously unseen screen time for Darkseid and Desaad.

Sadly, Jack isn’t here to see the fruits of his labor. He died at his Thousand Oaks, California home on February 6, 1994 at age 77. At the time, his passing was internationally acknowledged, including obituaries in USAToday, The New York Times, and British newspaper The Independent. But it wasn’t until recently that his fame reached what his diehard fans would consider a gratifying level, due to a 2014 legal settlement between Jack’s family and Marvel Comics, and the subsequent promotion and creator credit finally bestowed upon him by the company. [above] Cosplayers at Heroes Con 2019, Ego debuts in 1966’s Thor #132, and “New Genesis” for 1986’s Who’s Who #16.

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“It’s probably when he was doing the New Gods series, and everybody left him alone, and he was able to put it down on paper, and they didn’t bother him too much. If he said something, they’d say, ‘Okay, Jack.’ And they left him alone that way. And either it was good, or it wasn’t good, and he’d get lots of opinions. Some people hated his writing and some people loved it. Not everyone likes everything. But he always said he’d always do the best he could.”

With his notoriety set to climb even more due to New Gods and Eternals films, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the legacy of Jack’s gods. In doing so, one inevitable question remains. Did DC Comics hire Jack just to get him away from Marvel Comics, or did they really want him to come up with something never before seen in comics?

ROZ KIRBY:

[MARK EVANIER:] “I think they wanted him to come up with something that would destroy Marvel. And I think the problem with New Gods, Forever People, and Mister Miracle was that they didn’t put Marvel out of business. The books sold decently, according to all the statistics I’ve got… I think one thing they thought would happen was that all the Marvel readers would come over to DC and see how fabulous Flash was, and Green Lantern, and they’d all abandon Marvel for DC—which wasn’t going to happen, especially at a time when Marvel was improving their distribution enormously, and when Marvel was undercutting DC with the 20-cent price vs. 25 cents, which may have been the biggest business mistake in the history of comics, for DC to go to 25 cents when Marvel was 20. That was suicidal… because Marvel was publishing more Kirby stuff in reprints than DC was in new stuff. I think Carmine wanted to show he could steal Marvel’s top guy away, and it was just an exercise of power, and I think he thought, ‘Well, Jack will come up with some great book that will…’.” [STEVE SHERMAN:] “…just blow us away. [Jack] was really trying to upgrade the comics. And if you read those today, you can see that he did. I mean, the stories, they’re so rich, the characters and the writing; you read them today and they still hold up. What more can you say? Fifty years later, they still hold up. That’s what makes it great, really.”

Rosalind Kirby interviewed by John Morrow on December 12,1995, published in Jack Kirby Collector #10

His wife Roz Kirby died December 22, 1998, just as DC was embarking on reprinting the Fourth World in a series of trade paperback books. “I remember calling [Roz]—I was in New York. DC had reprinted New Gods, Forever People, and Mister Miracle for the first time, they were in black-and-white paperbacks. They were so timid about this, they put them out in black-and-white, with bad—well, not bad, but inappropriate toning on them. And I was up in the DC offices, and Paul Levitz and Jenette Kahn came in, and they said to me, ‘These books are selling way above our expectations. We’re going to do the series in black-and-white, and then we’re going to wait a couple years and put it out in color. We should have put it out in color in the first place.’ And I said, ‘Would you mind if I called Roz Kirby and told her that?’ And [Jenette] says, ‘No, please call.’ So I called from Julius Schwartz’s desk. And I called her up at Thousand Oaks and I told her what they had said to me, and she started crying over the phone. “And she was saying, ‘Jack always said they’d be a hit. Jack always said they’d be a hit.’ And she died very soon after that. I was very glad I made that call so she knew that, and that they had sold well enough, and they had proven to stand the test of time. I was so happy when they settled the stuff with Marvel. I was so happy when those books kept coming out, and are proven to be as good and enduring as we thought they were. I am so happy when I see that Jack is getting way more credit than he ever has. He’s well on his way to getting enough of it. We’re not quite there yet, but I keep being aware of people—around show business a lot, I go into meetings and I am amazed that people say to me how much they love Jack. ‘Tell us about Jack. You knew Jack Kirby.’”

Mark Evanier interviews Steve Sherman on the “NEWS FROM me” blog (www.newsfromme. com) on August 6, 2020

When asked at what point in his career Kirby was the most creatively fulfilled, both Jack and his wife Roz shared similar responses. “I believe when I was given full rein on The New Gods… and I was given full rein on Mister Miracle. Mister Miracle was a fine strip. I was given full rein on many other strips, which sold extremely well and made me very happy. I was happy doing them because as a professional, you’ve got to take the credit for it, or you’ve got to take the beating for it. I don’t like to take a beating without being responsible.” Jack Kirby interviewed by Gary Groth, conducted Summer 1989, published in The Comics Journal #134, February 1990

Mark Evanier on the “NEWS FROM me” blog (www.newsfromme.com) on August 6, 2020

According to Evanier, the stories Jack was most proud of were “The Pact,” “The Glory Boat,” and “The Death Wish of Terrible Turpin”—not surprisingly, all from New Gods (issues #6-8), at the creative peak of the series; tellingly, drawn immediately prior to Carmine Infantino interfering with the creative direction of the series; and sadly, published just as the rug was pulled out from under the Fourth World by DC. Had Kirby been given six more months, or three, or even one, what other classic stories and characters would he have been able to add to his mythos? Looking back, my biggest regrets over the cancellation were what I didn’t see or learn. • I never got to experience the “Mister Miracle To Be” story, showing what occurred between Scott Free escaping Apokolips in “Himon” and arriving on Earth in Mister Miracle #1. Where’d he get his bag of tricks? How did Scott first meet Orion, and how did he learn he was actually Highfather’s son? • I never learned the “source” of the Infinity Man’s powers, his origin, or why the Forever People had a communal Mother Box. 156

you had to protect him. And, not that he needed it, but you just felt that he was such a great guy, that they were treating him like this, you’d go, ‘How can you treat Jack Kirby like this? This is Jack Kirby, okay? He created the Marvel Universe. Leave him alone! Just let him do what he does.’ But they wouldn’t. And it was very frustrating to see that, that any time he did something, they’d either change it or wreck it... They were not great businessmen up there at DC, I’d have to say.” [MARK EVANIER:] “Yeah, it was frustrating seeing him be frustrated. Do you remember the day he told us that New Gods and Forever People were being ‘suspended?’ I’ve never felt so sorry for a man in my life. He was so—he was gray. He had actually turned—he was pale.” [STEVE SHERMAN:] “Yeah. He was so crushed. Which was unusual, because usually, he didn’t get crushed like that over comics, over the magazines, because he knew the score. He knew, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But these were really special to him.”

• I never saw Orion’s upbringing on New Genesis, and how he had to adapt and fight his inner nature—nor why Forager was a god, but ended up living with the Bugs. • It was never revealed whether the members of the Newsboy Legion were clones, or whose DNA Dubbilex was cloned from. • Fans never got to see Big Barda and her Female Furies in their own spin-off book. • Esak was never shown interacting with his Forever People friends, though he advocated for them to Highfather in the introduction to Forever People #7. (Their eventual banishment to another world at the end of Forever People #11 could’ve been played up as a great rationale for Esak’s isolation and desertion of New Genesis in Hunger Dogs.) • Kanto, Darkseid’s personal assassin, wasn’t shown to be the one to “kill” Orion (or to turn on Darkseid) in Hunger Dogs. A good storyteller always leaves things open-ended for later development, and some of these were eventually resolved by other creators. But we all missed the chance to see Kirby, in his prime, give his take on them—though just as frustrating was when fans took to armchair quarterbacking the most personal work of Kirby’s career.

Mark Evanier interviews Steve Sherman on the “NEWS FROM me” blog (www.newsfromme.com) on August 6, 2020

Now, more than a half-century after they were created, Kirby’s god stories are readily available for new readers to discover and enjoy… “…exactly the way Jack wanted them to be someday. Deluxe printing, good paper, good coloring. Well, better coloring. And he said that they would do that. He said, ‘Someday these comics will be in hardcover.’ And nobody believed him. They considered those failed books. Now they wish they had a hundred issues of New Gods to reprint, because it sells every time they reprint it. And I always look at that stuff and it reminds me how right Jack was so many times.”

“I’ve spent fifty years… meeting people who would say to me, ‘Oh, I loved Jack’s work, but why can’t an inker change his art style? Why can’t another writer change the way he writes?’ In other words, ‘I love Jack Kirby, but I want to change the way I want it.’ And we learned that you couldn’t do that, that Jack was so organic at what he did, I tell people, Over fifty years ago, Jack Kirby selfpublished a limited edition black-&-white ‘No, you couldn’t have had somebody else come in and portfolio of his 1960s concept drawings, dialogue those books. You couldn’t have given them to for his appearance at the Disneyland Mark Evanier on the “NEWS FROM me” blog (www.newsfromme. some inker who would have fixed all the stuff that you Convention of Nostalgia on April 9-11, com) on August 6, 2020 think should be fixed. You had to take Jack at face value. 1971. In 2008, TwoMorrows Publishing Whether etched on a stone tablet or a He had to do it his way. If Stan Lee had dialogued the issued a remastered version of that Disneyland Portfolio titled Kirby: Deities, silicon chip, recountings of gods have always New Gods, they would not have been the same comics featuring ten 8-1/2” x 11” plates been, and will always be, indelible records of with different words in the balloons. They would have (full-color this time) in an illustrated every civilization. From his tepid initial forays at been completely different comics, for better or worse. envelope, and limited to just 200 copies. incorporating myths into his comics, to his fullWe would never have done the Terrible Turpin issue. We blown use of Norse mythology in Thor; from an would never have done the Glory Boat issue at all. Those original rough conception of the New Gods as a series of paperback issues would never have been in there if he wasn’t in complete control books totaling roughly 600 pages, to The Fourth World By Jack Kirby of the storylines.” Omnibus with almost 1500 pages of story; Kirby gave us (and likely Mark Evanier on the “NEWS FROM me” blog (www.newsfromme.com) on August 6, 2020 himself) a lot more than he bargained for. And it will always be here Still, the fact that the Fourth World was cut short has certainly to resonate with future generations of readers, and keep his “old” added to its longevity. Comics history is filled with grand storylines god stories “new.” (many, admittedly inspired by Kirby’s work) that had a proper ending, and then went on to be mostly forgotten. The Fourth World’s abrupt cancellation only added to its mystique, and its behind-the“Once we’ve scenes backstory has helped a generation of new readers discover learned enough the series. But it’s the quality, and imagination, and scope of the about the universe, Fourth World, that has cemented its place as one of the most influential stories ever produced in popular fiction. we will admit to For Kirby’s assistants, what was the most frustrating part of ourselves that we working with Jack—and likewise, what was the most rewarding? will never know

everything.”

[STEVE SHERMAN:] “The rewarding part was being around him, and talking with him, and listening to him, and exchanging ideas and listening to his ideas. The most frustrating part was seeing how frustrated he was with the people that he dealt with. That hurt. You felt

Jack Kirby, from 1989 to 1992 interviews by Ray Wyman, Jr.

157

“Jack Kirby created much of the language of superhero comics. He took vaudeville and made it opera. He took a static medium and gave it motion.” ⁠—Neil Gaiman

JACK KIRBY

NEW GODS

SUPER POWERS BY JACK KIRBY

DC UNIVERSE THE BRONZE AGE OMNIBUS BY JACK KIRBY

Get more DC graphic novels wherever comics and books are sold!

SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN BY JACK KIRBY

Other Jack Kirby Publications JACK KIRBY CHECKLIST:

CENTENNIAL EDITION

This final, fully-updated, definitive edition clocks in at DOUBLE the length of the 2008 “Gold Edition,” in a new 256-page LIMITED EDITION HARDCOVER (only 1000 copies) listing every release up to Jack’s 100th birthday! Detailed listings of all of Kirby’s published work, reprints, magazines, books, foreign editions, newspaper strips, fine art and collages, fanzines, essays, interviews, portfolios, posters, radio and TV appearances, and even Jack’s unpublished work! (256-page LIMITED EDITION HARDCOVER) $34.95

ISBN: 978-1-60549-083-0 • Diamond Order Code: JAN181989

KIRBY & LEE: STUF’ SAID (Expanded 2nd Edition)

After achieving the quickest sell-out in TwoMorrows’ history, we’re going back to press for an EXPANDED SECOND EDITION, including minor corrections, and 16 NEW PAGES of “Stuf’ Said” by the creators of the Marvel Universe! This first-of-its-kind examination, completed just days before STAN LEE’s recent passing, looks back at KIRBY & LEE’s own words, in chronological order, from fanzine, magazine, radio, and television interviews, to paint the most comprehensive and enlightening picture of their relationship ever done—why it succeeded, where it deteriorated, and when it eventually failed. Also here are recollections from STEVE DITKO, WALLACE WOOD, JOHN ROMITA SR., and more Marvel Bullpen stalwarts who worked with them both. Compiled, researched, and edited by publisher JOHN MORROW. (This book is issue #75 of the JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR.)

COLLECTED KIRBY COLLECTOR VOL. 6

COLLECTED KIRBY COLLECTOR VOL. 7

Reprints JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #23-26, plus new art!

Reprints JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #27-30, plus new art!

(288-page trade paperback) $29.95 ISBN: 9781605490038 Diamond Order Code: JUN084280

(288-page trade paperback) $29.95 ISBN: 9781605490120 Diamond Order Code: DEC084286

(176-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $26.95 • (Digital Edition) $12.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-094-6 • Diamond Comic Distributors Order Code: MAY192003

JACK KIRBY’S DINGBAT LOVE

In cooperation with DC COMICS, TwoMorrows compiles a tempestuous trio of never-seen 1970s Kirby projects! These are the final complete, unpublished Jack Kirby stories in existence, presented here for the first time! Included are: Two unused DINGBATS OF DANGER STREET tales (Kirby’s final Kid Gang group, inked by MIKE ROYER and D. BRUCE BERRY, and newly colored for this book)! TRUELIFE DIVORCE, the abandoned newsstand magazine that was too hot for its time (reproduced from Jack’s pencil art—and as a bonus, we’ve commissioned MIKE ROYER to ink one of the stories)! And SOUL LOVE, the unseen ’70s romance book so funky, even a jive turkey will dig the unretouched inks by VINCE COLLETTA and TONY DeZUNIGA. PLUS: There’s Kirby historian JOHN MORROW’s in-depth examination of why these projects got left back, concept art and uninked pencils from DINGBATS, and a Foreword and Introduction by ’70s Kirby assistants MARK EVANIER and STEVE SHERMAN! (176-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $43.95 • (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-091-5 • Diamond Order Code: JUN191992

KIRBY FIVE-OH!

THE THIN BLACK LINE:

VINCE COLLETTA

Whether you loved his inking or hated it, this book will enlighten, entertain, and expose a life and career as colorful as the four-color comic books he labored on for decades. Join dozens of comics pros as they recall the VINCE COLLETTA they knew and worked with, and pull no punches in their praise and criticism of the most notorious inker in the history of the medium.

ER EISN RD AWAINEE! NOM

(128-page trade paperback) $14.95 (Digital Edition) $6.99

TJKC #50 covers all the best of Kirby’s 50-year career in comics: BEST KIRBY STORIES, COVERS, CHARACTER DESIGNS, UNUSED ART, and profiles of/commentary by the 50 PEOPLE MOST INFLUENCED BY KIRBY’S WORK! Plus a 50-PAGE PENCIL ART GALLERY and a COLOR SECTION! Kirby cover inked by DARWYN COOKE, and introduction by MARK EVANIER.

TwoMorrows. The Future of Comics History. TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA

(168-page trade paperback) $24.95 (Digital Edition) $7.99 ISBN: 9781893905894 Diamond Order Code: MAR151563

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BOOKS FROM TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING

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MONSTER MASH

MARK VOGER’s time-trip back to 1957-1972, to explore the CREEPY, KOOKY MONSTER CRAZE, when monsters stomped into America’s mainstream! (192-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $11.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-064-9

GROOVY

A psychedelic look at when Flower Power bloomed in Pop Culture. Revisits ‘60s era’s ROCK FESTIVALS, TV, MOVIES, ART, COMICS & CARTOONS! (192-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $13.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-080-9

MIKE GRELL

LIFE IS DRAWING WITHOUT AN ERASER Career-spanning tribute to a comics art legend! (160-page FULL-COLOR TPB) $27.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-088-5 (176-page LTD. ED. HARDCOVER) $37.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-087-8 (Digital Edition) $12.99

MARVEL COMICS IN THE 1970s

Digs up the best of FROM THE TOMB (the UK’s preeminent horror comics history magazine): Atomic comics lost to the Cold War, censored British horror comics, the early art of RICHARD CORBEN, Good Girls of a bygone age, TOM SUTTON, DON HECK, LOU MORALES, AL EADEH, BRUCE JONES’ ALIEN WORLDS, HP LOVECRAFT in HEAVY METAL, and more! (192-page trade paperback) $29.95 (Digital Edition) $10.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-081-6

(240-page trade paperback) $29.95 (Digital Edition) $12.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-103-5

Documents the complete history of ARCHIE COMICS’ super-heroes known as the “Mighty Crusaders”, with in-depth examinations of each era of the characters’ history: The GOLDEN AGE (beginning with the Shield, the first patriotic super-hero), the SILVER AGE (spotlighting the campy Mighty Comics issues, and The Fly and Jaguar), the BRONZE AGE (the Red Circle line, and the !mpact imprint published by DC Comics), up to the MODERN AGE, with its Dark Circle imprint! (288-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $34.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-067-0

(272-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $36.95 (Digital Edition) $13.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-073-1

IT CREPT FROM THE TOMB

EXPANDED SECOND EDITION— 16 EXTRA PAGES! PIERRE COMTOIS’ sequel covers Marvel’s final historical “twilight” phase, as STAN LEE went from writer to publisher, JACK KIRBY left (and later returned), ROY THOMAS rose as writer and editor, and a new wave of writers and artists expanded the boundaries of comics beyond super-heroes, while planting the seeds for the company’s eventual self-destruction.

THE MLJ COMPANION

HERO-A-GO-GO!

MICHAEL EURY looks at comics’ CAMP AGE, when spies liked their wars cold and their women warm, and TV’s Batman shook a mean cape!

REED CRANDALL ILLUSTRATOR OF THE COMICS

NEW SOFTCOVER EDITION! ROGER HILL’s history of Crandall’s life and career, with never-seen photos and unpublished artwork by the Golden Age and EC Comics great! (256-page FULL-COLOR TRADE PAPERBACK) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $13.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-102-8

AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES:

THE WORLD OF TWOMORROWS

Celebrate our 25th anniversary with this retrospective by publisher JOHN MORROW and Comic Book Creator magazine’s JON B. COOKE! Go behind-the-scenes with MICHAEL EURY, ROY THOMAS, GEORGE KHOURY, and a host of other TwoMorrows contributors! Introduction by MARK EVANIER, Foreword by ALEX ROSS, Afterword by PAUL LEVITZ, and a new cover by TOM McWEENEY! (224-page FULL-COLOR TPB) $37.95 (240-page ULTRA-LIMITED HARDCOVER) $75 (Digital Edition) $15.99

8 Volumes Covering The 1940s-1990s

COMIC BOOK IMPLOSION

In 1978, DC Comics implemented its “DC Explosion” with many creative new titles, but just weeks after its launch, they pulled the plug, leaving stacks of completed comic book stories unpublished. This book marks the 40th Anniversary of “The DC Implosion”, one of the most notorious events in comics, with an exhaustive oral history from the creators involved (JENETTE KAHN, PAUL LEVITZ, LEN WEIN, MIKE GOLD, and others), plus detailed analysis of how it changed the landscape of comics forever!

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(136-page trade paperback with COLOR) $21.95 (Digital Edition) $10.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-085-4

OR -COL FULLDCOVER HAR RIES SE nting me f docu ecade o d y! c ea h s histor comic

MAC RABOY

Master of the Comics

MAC RABOY perfected his art style on such 1940s comic book creations as DR. VOODOO, BULLETMAN, SPY SMASHER, GREEN LAMA, and his crowning achievement, CAPTAIN MARVEL JR., before moving on to illustrate the FLASH GORDON Sunday newspaper strip. Author ROGER HILL documents the life and career of the master artist in a full-color hardcover with never-before-seen photos, a wealth of rare and unpublished artwork, and the first definitive biography of a true Master of the Comics! (160-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-090-8

TwoMorrows. The Future of Pop History.

Phone: 919-449-0344 E-mail: store@twomorrows.com Web: www.twomorrows.com

TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA

OLD GODS & NEW For its 80th issue, the Jack Kirby Collector magazine presents a double-sized celebration 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 Comics epic, their effect on later series like The Eternals and Captain Victory, and even on Jack’s triumphant return to The New Gods in the 1980s! With an overview of hundreds of Kirby’s creations like Big Barda, Boom Tubes and Granny Goodness, post-Kirby uses of his concepts, his amazing collages and Kirbytech, and unused gods, no Kirby fan will want to miss it! ISBN-13: 978-1-60549-098-4 ISBN-10: 1-60549-098-9 52695

9 781605 490984

TwoMorrows Publishing Raleigh, North Carolina ISBN: 978-1-60549-098-4 $26.95

PRINTED IN CHINA

A Companion To Jack Kirby’s Fourth World