Scott Free is Mister Miracle: superhero, escape artist, New God, husband… and soon father-to-be! Together with his wife, Big Barda, they face parenthood alongside all-out war on Apokolips against the greatest enemy in the DC Universe: Darkseid!
I think Tom King is one of the best comics writers working today and certainly among the finest DC currently has – his Batman run is jaw-droppingly good! But outside of Batman… ehhhhh. I can take or leave his stuff. Mister Miracle’s not bad but, particularly given its overwhelming plaudits, it’s a disappointingly unimpressive 12-issue maxi-series.
Let’s be honest: this will be most people’s first Mister Miracle book – it certainly is mine – and, though you get a decent idea of his character, King doesn’t do a very good job in explaining his complicated world. Scott and Barda’s extended families are the main focus of this book but I never really understood the various relationships. I got that some nutter called Granny Goodness was a teacher/steward to them when they were little and that Scott’s dad is some kind of Force Ghost dude called Highfather, but beyond that… no clue. Scott’s got some brothers, Darkseid is his – dad as well, maybe granddad? Who is Barda to Scott besides his wife – the daughter of another high-ruling family?
What is the difference between Apokolips and New Genesis – or are they the same place, just named differently? Why is there a massive war breaking out now? Why doesn’t Darkseid use the Anti-Life Equation to win the war? What’s the difference between New Gods and Old Gods? Which characters are New Gods and which are Old – does it matter? What do the titles mean – what’s the hierarchy?
The story is largely unfocused too. The war is almost an afterthought or background dressing (ditto the escape artist stuff which always seemed incidental and irrelevant). I never had any idea which side was winning or the context of any battle we saw, what its stakes were, and it came off as oddly undramatic and dull. There’s zero tension – Scott and Barda are essentially invincible (we literally see them bathing in lava at one point!) – and the characters that do die are one-dimensional and unknown (to me anyway) so their deaths had no impact.
I guess the real story is about parenthood and Scott and Barda’s relationship (and she plays such a huge part in this book the series should’ve really been called Mister Miracle and Big Barda), which is well-written and convincing, buuuut… it wasn’t very interesting. I suppose it was amusing that they were talking about their condo’s layout and other banal domesticities whilst doing something daring and (supposedly) exciting like breaking into a palace to assassinate someone.
As well as not explaining Mister Miracle’s world very well, I generally had no idea what was happening. Why do the pictures suddenly go fuzzy like those old TVs where the signal would cause the image to blur? Why is “Darkseid Is” repeated throughout? They’re interesting aspects but a little too avant-garde for my tiny brain to comprehend. It’s hinted early on that Mister Miracle’s greatest escape will be to “escape death” but nothing really happens with that.
So what did I like about it? I like Scott and Barda. King writes Scott a lot like Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye, which is to say he’s kind of a ditz who’s always getting banged up but he’s charming and effortlessly likeable – there’s never a point you’re not rooting for him. Scott and Barda’s relationship is likewise believable and you get a strong sense of their deep love, so kudos to King for conveying that so powerfully. The True/False trial was gripping and King inserts a running gag, as is his wont in nearly all of his books now, this time of crudités, so characters munch on carrot sticks at random points – even Darkseid! – which made me smile.
Mitch Gerads’ art is interesting. He’s completely mastered the classic 9 panel layout structure used throughout. I like that the weird New Gods/Apokolips costumes mix a weirdly feudal/medieval style with camp futuristic sci-fi. The colours and the look reminded me of the original Tron movie and it’s quite eye-catching (the slave negotiating table!). I like that Oberon looked like Jack Kirby too, Mister Miracle’s creator, which was a cute, respectful nod. I didn’t think it’s the prettiest art but it works fine for the book.
The ending is a bit of a bugger’s muddle. Barda conveniently gets an uber-powerful super-weapon, Darkseid suddenly becomes extremely gullible and stupid and… yeah. Not great.
Mister Miracle is not a bad comic. I give it a lot of credit that it’s not doing what most superhero comics do which is: good heroes punch bad villains, saves the day, zzz… King and Gerads have produced an original book that takes chances and shoots for art above all else – wonderful, honestly. If only more creators attempted this!
Except I still had no real idea about the whole New Gods stuff in the DCU and the story, besides being confusing and unclear, really didn’t grab me – I found it very easy to put down and read anything else instead. Mister Miracle is for readers looking for something a little bit different from their superhero comics though don’t expect the masterpiece the hype would have you believe it is.
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