At this point, I'm starting to think that IDW Publishing's line of Artist's Edition hardcovers are a sinister plot to separate me from my money as efficiently as possible, but that might just be because of how beautifully they're produced. In case you're unfamiliar with the format, the basic idea is that they reprint the art of some of the best and most historically important comics of all time using high resolution scans of the original penciled and inked pages to reproduce what it's like to read the original art, which is often much larger than the published comics, and they are gorgeous.

In the past, they've done Artist's Editions for comics like Walter Simonson's Thor and Frank Miller's Daredevil, but the one that got my instant purchase was the massive 11" x 17" reproduction of New Gods. Now, the publisher announced that they're following it up with another piece of the Fourth World saga: Jack Kirby's Mister Miracle, reprinting seven complete issues of Kirby's masterpiece of action and escape artistry.

 

Mister Miracle #7
Mister Miracle #7
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While my favorite Fourth World story will probably always be the issues of Jimmy Olsen about Transilvane, the miniature planet full of vampires and Frankensteins that's so evil that the planet itself has devil horns, Mister Miracle is arguably the high point of the entire saga. It's the perfect blend of imaginative action and bombastic philosophical metaphor, producing some of Kirby's most enduring and relatable characters from his time at DC, Scott Free and Big Barda.

The Artist's Edition is set for release next year, and will include Mister Miracle #2, 3, and 5-9 in their entirety, scanned from the original art. It'll clock in at 192 pages, and while IDW's press release doesn't mention a specific price point, previous volumes have been $125 - $150.

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