Posted By Dan Greenfield on Jun 21, 2021 | 1 comment

SNEAK PEEK: You can practically feel the electricity coming off of these gorgeous illustrations…

John Morrow’s latest oral history project is out Wednesday — Old Gods & New, a companion to Jack Kirby’s Fourth World that delves deeply into the King’s fixation on godlike characters. The book — aka Jack Kirby Collector #80 — is akin to Morrow’s Kirby & Lee: Stuf’ Said!, which got into the nitty gritty of who may have deserved credit for what in building the Marvel Universe.

Morrow, with Jon B. Cooke, approaches the Fourth World with the same combination of intense research and fascinating insight from those who would know best. Just check out the table of contents:

One of the book’s visual highlights is a gallery of full-page, full-color concept illustrations by Kirby that date back to the days before he left Marvel for DC in 1970.

They are, in a word, magnificent, and we’re going to show off 13 of them here. (NOTE: As it states in the table of contents, the names were in flux or non-existent at the time the drawings were created, but are listed here to help the identification process in the book.)

Dig it.

Darkseid

Orion

Captain Victory/Glory

Mister Miracle

Enchantra

Thor/Sigurd

Green Mantis

Bombast

Honir

Black Pharaoh

Balduur

Robot Defender

Metron

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Old Gods & New is due June 23. The book comes in both softcover ($26.95) and exclusive hardcover ($35.95) editions. The softcover will be available at comics shops and booksellers — but you can order either one directly from TwoMorrows. Click here.

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MORE

— LEE, KIRBY and the Case of Who Created the MARVEL UNIVERSE. Click here.

— Get Ready to Visit THE MANY WORLDS OF JACK KIRBY. Click here.