Mister Miracle is a limited series released collectively in one volume. An unusual series, because it was created by an extraordinary author such as Tom King - winner of the Eisner award. Nevertheless, is it worth reaching for the title with a poorly recognizable hero?
Who is the Miracle Lord?
Mister Miracle was invented in 1971 by comic book legend Jack Kirby, known as the co-creator of many characters of the House of Ideas. Mister Miracle was part of the famous Fourth World saga about the history of new gods who descended from the technologically advanced planets New Genesis and Apokolips.
After a thousand years of warfare, the Allworld – Lord of New Genesis – and Darkseid – Lord of Apokolips – agreed to a truce. Each god named one of his sons as proof of good faith, thus sealing the pact to end the war. Scott Free, the son of the Most High, was sent to Apokolips, where he was thrown into a slave pit and subjected to decades of imprisonment and torture at the hands of the devil’s Grandma Samo Dobro. The long time in Hell made Scott decide to escape this nightmare with the love of his life, Big Barda. The lovers went to Earth, where they joined the Justice League and lived the lives of ordinary superheroes. In the human world, the son of the Allfather also took the pseudonym Mister Miracle and became known as “the world’s greatest escape artist.” The idyll of lovers won’t last forever
Difficult choices and worlds clash
Mister Miracle is portrayed as a tragicomic character throughout the comic. Scott escapes from his true destiny and family home caught in a war. A chance to come to terms with the trauma is to throw yourself into the vortex of everyday tasks. It is the prosaic activities that constitute a large part of the story presented to the reader. King wants to show us completely human heroes.
Therefore, following the idea of the screenwriter, the series’ cartoonist – Mitch Gerads best recreates Los Angeles – the earth space in which our protagonist moves. Many frames contain a lot of references to real places, such as Venice Beach or Echo Park. The immersion of the presented world is really huge, and the reader has the impression of dealing with something “normal” and completely “natural”.
Another important element worth emphasizing is the presence of pop culture entangled in reality. The proliferation of gadgets related to the world of DC Comics in the comic book gives the publisher free advertising in its own product. The presence of licensed items based on the DC brand also shows how important pop culture is to us in the real world, and also how huge commercial potential has the world of superheroes in recent decades.
Some news
What stands out above all is the completely unusual style of comic book narrative in the story about the tragic life of a DC Comics superhero. Kirby’s fourth world becomes the fourth wall. We have the impression that the creators are trying to give their hero the power to address the reader directly. In his dreamlike states, usually shown as television broadcasts (the TV noise on the screen is eminently emphasized by Gerads), the protagonist addresses his viewers directly. Yes, breaking the fourth wall is not a novelty at DC, but so far it has been mostly manifested by fifth dimensional characters, not gods.
Unusual drawing forms
Like King, artist Mitch Gerads deserved Eisner for his work on this comic. King cleverly arranges his stories across nine frames per page, which not only allows the story to be dense but gives the claustrophobic effect of Scott’s confrontation with his problems. Gerads puts an incredible amount of emotion into the characters. We will even see Scott’s facial expressions on his mask, which so far has been mainly done by Deadpool and Spider-Man.
The comic book in perfect proportions combines the depth and simplicity of the message. The matters of everyday life prove to be just as important as the matters of life and death on the field of an intergalactic battle. The frames themselves, giving us the message on several levels – fantastic / divine and real / everyday – are complemented by great drawings. It is worth reaching for this comic book, having a little laugh with it, but also reflecting on the meaning of our everyday existence.
