Currently making my way through the Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibuses, and my impression of them remains the same as when I last read them ten years ago. Kirby's mythology is brilliant, but his need to take a cosmic war to the street level feels like silly pandering. O'Ryan's gang, in particular, always hurts. I don't know why he didn't trust that readers would still take interest if his book had no relation to Earth.

The one thing I do feel differently about is the Jimmy Olsen stories. Whereas I used to see them as a distraction, the Project vs. The Evil Factory premise is probably the tightest of the four precisely because it doesn't make any overt efforts to take place in a familiar Earth environment. The project may be on Earth, but it feels nothing like Earth. And the threats they face are less cosmic in nature as well. In short, it's more believable and more escapist than the other Fourth World titles.

In the past, I only got through the first handful of issues for each title. Now, thanks to these Omnibuses, I intend to read the entire thing straight through!