In my opinion, the best archival edition of this material because of the paper stock: it looks like the comic book. Archival collections are typically printed on a whiter coated stock than the original comics and the coloring is not adjusted to compensate for that, so the colors are too bright and too garish. The colors here are muted and the overall reproduction looks closest to the original comic books. And that is what I want whether I'm indulging in nostalgia or coming to the work for the very first time.

From the publisher:

After co-creating a number of legendary comic book heroes -- including The Fantastic Four and The Hulk -- legendary writer/artist Jack Kirby came to DC Comics in 1970 to create his magnum opus: four interlocked adventure series that were known collectively as "The Fourth World." Now, for the first time, DC collects Kirby's four series -- THE NEW GODS, THE FOREVER PEOPLE, MISTER MIRACLE and SUPERMAN'S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN -- in chronological order as they originally appeared. These comics spanned galaxies, from the streets of Metropolis to the far-flung worlds of New Genesis and Apokolips, as cosmic-powered heroes and villains struggled for supremacy. THE FOURTH WORLD VOL. 1 features the debuts of Orion of the New Gods, the evil Darkseid, super-escape artist Mister Miracle and many others, and features numerous appearances by Superman, from the pages of SUPERMAN'S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN #133-139, FOREVER PEOPLE #1-3, NEW GODS #1-3 and MISTER MIRACLE #1-3!

Introduction
Grant Morrison

Written by:
Jack Kirby
Penciller
Neal Adams, Jack Kirby
Inker
Mike Royer, Vince Colletta, Neal Adams, Jack Kirby