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Posted January 20, 2014 by Nicolo Parungo in Comics
 
 

COMIC BOOK REVIEW: Miracleman #1 – A Miraculous Return

Miraclepic

Writer(s): The Original Writer, Mick Anglo

Artist(s): Garry Leach, Don Lawrence, Mick Anglo

I’ll admit that I’ve never been familiar with Miracleman – a character originally conceived as Marvel Man from his original creator Mick Anglo, so when his return was announced I wasn’t exactly jumping for joy about his return; however I am a fan of the “original writer” thanks to his previous works like Watchmen and The League of Extraordinary Gentleman among other things and this is considered another one of his golden comic runs from the Eighties. Either way it doesn’t matter who or what you’re a fan of as Miracleman #1 is a fantastic comic debut, with the only flaw coming from production rather than the story.

The comic starts out with a prologue that comes from the height of the silver age and it is a treat. We are introduced to Kid Miracleman and Young Miracleman (yes there is a difference) who help our protagonist fight FIVE THOUSAND invaders from an alternate future. It’s not for everyone, but if you enjoy silver age insanity like yours truly than you will love this as everything from the writing to the art harkens back to that era of boundless imagination.

Of course the real meat comes in the next story from said “original writer” Alan Moore and Gary Leach. After twenty years of inactivity Miracleman returns, but he can’t remember why he’s been gone so long or what happened to his allies. It’s all very intriguing and Leach’s art is terrific, the new colouring and inks look great without making the book look to gaudy. It’s also interesting to see Moore’s writing here as he’s still pretty raw, but one can see that he would clearly be going places.

The last few stories come from the 50’s and are printed in black and white and were written from Miracleman creator Mick Anglo – he’s even called Marvel Man in these short tales. Admittedly they don’t mean much by themselves, but do add greatly to the previous story, making these essential reading.

The only thing keeping the book down is the behind the scenes material; this stuff is great when printed for graphic novels or collections, but as far as single issues go it feels like filler. What’s worse is these extras are meant to justify the $5.99 price tag, so as a result the comic feels overpriced.

Even with the heavy price tag and unnecessary filler, I feel Miracleman #1 is still worth picking up. All the stories are enjoyable and it’s nice to have this piece of comic book history back in comic stores.

10/10

We would like to thank Druid’s Keep for the copy. Druid’s Keep can be found in the third floor of the Fort Strip


Nicolo Parungo