Miracleman

Miracleman 1-16

I’m not sure what to say about Miracleman.  For the longest time, this was infamous (at least to me) as one of those classic comics that was never going to be reprinted due to legal issues.  All the issues were scarily expensive, so the horrors of issue 15, which I’d only heard whispered rumors about, would never reach my eye.  

Then Marvel cut through all of the red tape and finally started rereleasing all of the issues, crediting Alan Moore as “The Original Writer,” since Moore is a grump about everything.  (I don’t know the details, maybe he has a good reason.)  

Early Moore really is a sight to see.  His ideas, while brilliant, seem so obvious once you read them on the page; They just make so much sense and feel so right.  And then they’re all wrapped up in that glorious Moore prose.  

I'm a little surprised that 'hir' hasn't caught on.

Moore predicted the internet age back in the early 80s.

There’s so much here that’s good - The retconned origin story, Gorgunza’s endgame, the creepy baby, Moore’s utopian vision, THAT LONDON ISSUE...I was glued to the comic as I was 

reading it.  

So.  Scary.

Creepy kids are super disturbing to me now.

Something about perverted innocence and all that.

London...

At the end of the day, Warpsmith did all the work.  Miracleman did nothing...

...except snap a kid's neck.  Not that it wasn't justified.

Love that John Totleben does studies.  Very Michelangelo of him.

This cover could pass for David Mack.

There are huge similarities between this and Moore’s Swamp Thing, which came soon after.  The horror undertones, the creepy, ominous narration, the emotionally distant storytelling...They’re basically siblings.  

Anyway, great stuff here.  I can’t remember how well I like Neil Gaiman’s followup, I’ll find out tomorrow…

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Miracleman Annual 1

Basically Miracleman 14.5.  Some gap filling stories that serve no real purpose.  Still, we get some rare Joe Quesada interior art, and some amusing stuff from Mike Allred:

Dolphins around the campfire are the new dogs playing poker.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice