Even if you`re not a fan of DC Comics, chances are you`ve heard of Gotham City, or Metropolis. You might even have heard of Themyscira--the home of Wonder Woman and the Amazons--too. But names like `Apokolips` and `New Genesis` are probably still a bit vague on associations.That`s OK. In terms of idiosyncratic DC Universe iconography, a map of the Fourth World is a pretty far cry from the comforting black and yellow of the Bat Signal--at least for now.The release of Justice League marks DC`s first attempt at translating the bombast of the New Gods to the big screen. So what does that actually mean? What is the Fourth World, who are the New Gods, and why should you care?In The BeginningTo call the Fourth World totally arcane wouldn`t really be fair--what it lacks in franchise and branding power, it makes up in (admittedly kind of niche) critical acclaim. In the simplest possible terms, the Fourth World is the collective name for a saga created (and when I say `created` I mean created--written, drawn, edited, top to bottom) by the legendary Jack Kirby after he left Marvel for DC in the 70s. The story actually got its start, strangely enough, in an issue of an ongoing book called Superman`s Pal Jimmy Olsen, but promptly spilled out into its own titles like New Gods, Mister Miracle, and Forever People.All told, the whole Fourth World saga has 59 issues, hopscotching across multiple books to form an endless, cosmic, mythological spine for the DC Universe that`s still looked at as a touchstone for heroes and villains even today.The story of the Fourth World isn`t all that complicated. The twin worlds of New Genesis and Apokolips were created when an ancient planet called Urgrund was torn in two by a war between its immortal citizens called--surprise--the Old Gods. The cataclysm on Urgrund was so terrible that it actually forced both new planets into a new corner of space and time--not a new universe, but a place outside the multiverse entirely, a literal fourth world ...
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