Nonetheless, fans have had the chance to enjoy a more superheroic version - Gerry Conway and Don Newton's 1977 revival Return of the New Gods (opens in new tab) and a more mythological version - Walt Simonson's amazing 2000s series Orion (opens in new tab), too. In the years since his 1975 departure, the Fourth World has been revived a number of times by a number of different creators - including Kirby, whose 1985 The Hunger Dogs graphic novel was an attempt at a final chapter that didn't quite stick - with each subsequent appearance building off what Kirby achieved, if never quite capturing the complexity of what those first comics offered. The Fourth World survived Kirby's time at DC, although it didn't seem that way at the time each of the four titles were cancelled due to lower-than-expected sales after less than two years. 'The themes resonate in our world today, perhaps even more than they once did, and the sheer magnitude delivers drama,' Abnett agrees. 'The Fourth World stories resonate I think because they are very flexible and like all great mythologies or fairy tales can withstand being cracked, reinvented and told from all angles in order to comment on the time that they are retold in.' 'When you read the whole of the Fourth World stitched together, you really see a master world builder at work,' Castellucci says. But the four titles at the heart of the Fourth World - New Gods (opens in new tab), Forever People (opens in new tab), Mister Miracle (opens in new tab), and Kirby's short run on Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen (opens in new tab) - are easily some of the most ambitious not only of Kirby's career, but mainstream superhero comics history, even almost a century later, filled with material that has kept creators and fans alike returning over and over again to re-read, re-examine, and expand upon what was there in the first place (opens in new tab).Īccording to Dan Abnett, who's currently using a number of the Fourth World characters in Justice League Odyssey (opens in new tab), the Fourth World material is 'such a pure celebration of Kirby's genius,' with concepts 'that have a unique and monumental flavor of their own, and provide a epic mythology to underpin the DCU. Sure, calling what would become known as the 'Fourth World Saga' Kirby's greatest work is the kind of thing that is likely to be the subject of countless fan debates, especially when you consider the rest of his work.

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