The
Masked Bookwyrm's Graphic Novel (& TPB) Reviews
Fourth World Saga ~ Page Two
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The Fourth World Saga published by DC Comics
Jack
Kirby's Mister Miracle 1998 (SC
TPB) 256 pages
Written and pencilled by Jack Kirby. Inks by Vince Colletta,
Mike Royer.
Colours: various. Letters: unbilled.
Reprinting: Mister Miracle (1st series) #1-10 & #11-18 OR #1-18 depending on the volume (as I explain in my review) (1971-1972) plus some short, back up stories.
Additional notes: introductions by Mark Evanier and magician David Copperfield; cover gallery.
Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5)
Number of readings: 2
I originally read this when DC released the Fourth World stuff in some economical Black & White editions, the Mister Miracle stuff collected across two TPBs (called Mister Miracle and Fourth World, respectively). So my initial review was of just the first ten issues (collected in the first TPB). I've kept that review, but added an addendum review with thoughts on the final #11-18 that I read more recently.
ISSUES 1 -10:
Continuing DC Comics re-presentation of Jack Kirby's critically
regarded early 1970s comicbook epic, depicting various aspects of the war
between the God-like denizens of the planets New Genesis and Apokolips
with earth caught in the middle -- commonly known as the Fourth World saga
-- this collects the first ten issues of Mister Miracle -- reprinted
in black and white, but effectively textured with grey shades. I had already
read two other collections in the series, The
New Gods (the flagship title) and The Forever People
by the time I started on this.
Mister Miracle introduces us to the enigmatic Scott Free, living on earth, who takes on the mantle of a murdered showman and escape artist (Scott demonstrating a particular knack for daring -- and miraculous -- escapes). Paired with the dead man's assistant, the little person, Oberon, Scott battles an array of bizarre villains sent from Apokolips to hunt him...Scott having escaped from that planet.
After having read two books in the series, it's hard to know how to read Mister Miracle. The three comic book series were interconnected...but also, sort of, self-contained. As such, I'm not sure how much pre-knowledge Kirby expected the reader to have as vague hints are dropped alluding to Apokolips. Are the references supposed to be mysterious? Or is the reader expected to know what they mean? If the former, it means the early stories can seem a bit bland to more knowledgeable readers, as the "mysteries" aren't really mysteries...but if the latter, I'm not sure the reader gets all the information he or she would want just in these pages. For example, Scott's true lineage, I believe, is revealed in The New Gods, but not here!
I had mentioned in my review of the other books that prior to reading the Fourth World stories I had mixed feelings about Kirby's work as a writer, feeling he tended to lean toward half-baked plotting that seemed more an excuse for one outrageous action scene after another and thin characterization. An overall juvenileness. But I was duly impressed with the New Gods and The Forever People. Sure, some of that remained, but it was overshadowed by more thoughtful scenes, and grand ideas and an epic scope. Unfortunately, Mister Miracle reminds me a little more of the Kirby I expected.
The first issue kicks things off well, with a kind of low-key, moody tale, as we meet Scott as an aimless drifter who stops to watch an escape artist testing his latest trick in a remote field. Scott becomes involved with the escape artist's conflict with a mobster, but it's the characters who stick in your mind.
But then the stories just become a parade of bizarre and outrageous villains showing up with no other plan than to capture or kill Scott, employing various death traps -- all of which Scott escapes with an almost complete disregard for logic, or even explanation at times. Mister Miracle is sub-titled "Super Escape Artist", but Kirby seems to have little interest in, or aptitude for, coming up with ingenious escapes. Unlike Batman, whose contemporaneous stories often detailed how he escapes from traps, Kirby just out-fits Mister Miracle with an array of tricks and devices that come into play conveniently when the need arises. Even when he uses something that he used before, it often has a new property that wasn't foreshadowed earlier. In other words, the plots aren't much more than showcases for the action-escape scenes...and those scenes aren't much either.
However, just when things seem a mite bland, the series picks up.
The first half of stories takes place on earth, with Scott battling various Apokolipian villains (characters still trotted out to this day!), or getting involved with an earth con man, Funky Flashman and his snivelling sidekick, House Roy -- a seeming mean-spirited jab at Kirby's old Marvel collaborator Stan Lee, and fellow Marvel writer, Roy Thomas. For those who take Kirby's side in the question of how much he did at Marvel, and whether Lee stole credit for Kirby's genius, it might seem like amusing payback, but for others, the story might seem just a little petty and childish. Particularly as I don't think one can read Kirby's solo stuff (like this) and not be forced to concede that Kirby's Marvel stuff had a different -- certainly more disciplined -- flavour that hints Lee must've been contributing something.
Anyway the series picks up when Kirby finally shifts the action to Apokolips itself.
Although Apokolips had been glimpsed in the New Gods and the Forever People, I think this is the first time Kirby really presents the world -- and it's a strangely powerful, disturbing sequence. Mister Miracle returns to Apokolips to confront his pursuers and his journey through this chilling police state is dramatically quite powerful. As well, the villains from earlier issues re-appear, but here evince more character and nuance when seen in their native habitat. Kirby then indulges in a flashback issue (like he did in The New Gods' "The Pact") as we see Mister Miracles' youth, and how he encounters Himon, a rebel of Apokolips who takes him under his wing. It's an effective, stand alone tale, perhaps on a similar level of quality as The New Gods' "The Pact". The final story has Scott returning to earth for an adventure that has nothing to do with Apokolips...and is fun precisely for its originality (though still suffers from erratic use of logic). And, as it reunites the protagonists, acts as a satisfying conclusion to the TPB.
In addition to the plotting, the character stuff is likewise made up of strengths and weaknesses. Scott, himself, is kind of a generic leading man, but Oberon is ingratiating, and the introduction of Big Barda, a warrior woman from Apokolips who is Scott's friend (and maybe lover) gives the series a decidedly flamboyant, loud personality. And she's a major departure from Kirby's usual, more passive heroines. Once Scott's blandness can be contrasted with Barda's aggressiveness, and we learn more of his history, Scott too becomes more interesting.
The first issue of Mister Miracle is good, and the last four in this collection boast some exceptional tales, though in-between there's a certain mediocrity. Though it might be interesting to re-read the the stories in this book in their chronological order (reading the few "Young Scott Free" shorts included here, and "Himon" before starting on issue #1) and see if that changes how the saga reads. Ultimately, Mister Miracle comes in third behind the New Gods and The Forever People, but it has its moments, and the run of issues #7-9 adds texture to Apokolips for completists.
It's ironic that the original runs of The New Gods and The Forever People were cancelled after 11 issues...but Mister Miracle, in my opinion the lesser title, managed to continue to #18. Issues #11-18 have been collected in what DC initially billed as the final Fourth World TPB...Jack Kirby's Fourth World. Susbsequently, DC did release a couple of colour TPBs of his Jimmy Olsen stories (reviewed in my Superman section) which, though not as intricately tied into the Fourth World saga, nonetheless first introduced the ideas. Still later, DC released a series of full colour, hardcover Fourth World Omnibuses which published all four series, including a story Kirby did for a 1985 reprint series, and the graphic novel The Hunger Dogs, in their chronological publication order -- so each volume doesn't just reprint one of the series, but is a mix of the various series. Funnily enough, before DC did that, I had actually tried that on my own, re-reading the three TPBs I had of The New Gods, The Forever People and Mister Miracle, crossing back and forth between them as though one series -- and they do read even better that way, with even the breezier Mr. Miracle issues gaining from the association (acting as counterpoints to what was happening in the other series).
Jack Kirby's Mister Miracle is uneven, but moderatelyenjoyable,
particularly read as a companion piece to the other TPBs, and it has enough
interesting bits to make me consider getting Jack Kirby's Fourth World...but
enough weaknesses that it's not a priority.
One odd thing is that in #10, a new member is added to the cast -- Ted Brown, the son of Thaddeus Brown, the original Mr. Miracle who was killed in the first issue. Ted returns to the fold and becomes the group's manager. Except in #1, Thaddeus specifically says his son was dead! Then a few issues after Ted (Jr) is introduced it's explained that he was thought killed in action but had secretly been on the run from powerful enemy forces. But that feels less like a plan and more that Kirby had forgotten he said Thaddeus had no living children and quickly wrote a story to explain it. Maybe that's a downside to being your own editor.
Anyway, the second half of stories see a creative shift -- namely that Kirby's other Fourth World titles (The New Gods and The Forever People) had been cancelled. I don't know if Mr. Miracle avoided the axe (for a few issues) because it was selling better or whether it was simply that it was the one DC thought could be turned into something more mainstream. But suddenly all references to the Fourth World stuff is gone. No Apokolipian villains hunting him. Scott even just refers vaguely to the "circuits" in his costume as opposed to calling them Mother Box. Whether that was a DC edict or Kirby just feeling if he was going to make the break from the Fourth World he'd make it a total break, I don't know. (After all, he could've continued to use that as background -- but as I say, it's possible Mr. Miracle was only saved from cancellation because DC figured it could be re-purposed).
How much Kirby's spirit was broken by the cancelling of his Magnum Opus and how much this was just him re-directing his energy, I don't know. The ensuing stories are simpler (mostly one issue affairs) with no real sense of direction or purpose other than a monthly dose of action. But equally you could see that as being what Kirby did anyway -- even the earlier Mr. Miracle issues were often just fairly simple plots of villains putting him in some impossible trap he had to escape.
But if the Fourth World stuff lost readers because it was too complicated and interconnected, arguably these stories had trouble wooing readers because there was nothing to hold them. Kirby's dialogue and characterization could be uneven at the best of time. Out of the blue he adds to the cast a young black kid, Shilo Norman, who is immediately adopted as Mr. Miracle's heir apparent, Kirby almost shifting the focus to the kid. (And the female furies disappear without mention after a few issues).
Again whether Kirby added Shilo because of his restless imagination and losing interest in his established characters, or it was Kirby struggling to find a hook to win readers, I dunno.
It's not that these issues are terrible -- just an example of more generic Kirby. Simple plots, little characterization, awkward dialogue -- and the continuing fundamental idea that he builds a series around a "super escape artist" but has little interest in coming up with interesting escapes (as you might expect in a Batman comic); Scott usually escaping just because he has an endless array of convenient gadgets and vague powers.
It's also funny that for all Mr. Miracle is constantly rehearsing tricks, and with Ted becoming his manager...I don't think anywhere in these 18 issues does he actually perform publicly!
One issue worth commenting on has Scott, Barda, and Shilo stopping for the night at a hotel. It's a weird story at first, as if Kirby has completely lost the thread, with characters referring to things as though we missed an issue -- but then there's a twist part way through that is, I'll grant, kind of clever. But it's still mostly a lot of action without much depth.
Then comes the final issue and after having basically memory holed the Fourth World stuff for the last few issues, it comes back with a bang as literally everyone guest stars -- Orion, Highfather, Lightray, villains from Apokolips -- and climaxes in Scott and Barda getting married...and also returning to New Genesis, supposedly for good. Although this feels like Kirby was given a chance to give his characters a send off, it looks and feels rushed, as if maybe Kirby cobbled it together last minute.
The result is a weaker run of issues compared to the first half of the Mr. Miracle series -- and especially compared to the New Gods and Forever People. And it's a little frustrating because re-reading the early issues I was struck by how engaging the dynamics were between Scott, Barda, and Oberon, and a writer more deft at characterization might have been able to build something with that (or at least a writer with more interest in it -- since I'm saying Kirby was deft enough to create it at first). Instead Kirby barely does much with them. Other than one scene where Barda admits to feeling for Scott, there's little of their relationship until the wedding (and that feels forced). But in the early issues there was a genuine chemistry between them.
With that said, the final run of stories are still -- Kirby. Fast-paced, more than a little madcap, with explosive art (the final issue notwithstanding). Certainly worth reading for completists, but the weakest period of the original Fourth World era.
ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE COMPLETE SERIES:
Mister Miracle by Steve Englehart and Steve Gerber (2020) 212 pages
Written by Steve Englehart, Steve Gerber, Bob Haney. Pencils by Marshall Rogers, Michael Golden, Jim Aparo, with Rich Buckler. Inks by various.
Colours/ Letters: various
Reprinting: Mister Miracle (1st series) #19-25, The Brave and the Bold #112 (lead story), 128, 138, DC Comics Presents #12 (1974-1979) - with covers
Rating: * * * (out of 5)
Number of readings: 1
Review posted: June 2024
Jack Kirby's Magnum Opus -- his Fourth World saga that stretched across three interconnected series: New Gods, The Forever People, and Mr. Miracle (and also Jimmy Olsen) -- was ignobly cancelled when it was first published. Yet the characters and mythos Kirby envisioned has gone on to become a centrepiece of DC's mythology, the characters revived and re-purposed by many different talents in many different series over the years.
But the first revivals were still in the 1970s, just a few years after Kirby. The New Gods was revived helmed by Gerry Conway and Don Newton (reviewed on next page). But Mr. Miracle was revived initially by writer Steve Englehart and artist Marshall Rogers (the pair coming off an acclaimed run of Batman stories) and then by Steve Gerber, paired with a novice artist who would go on to great acclaim -- Michael Golden. (An interesting trivia note: in a DC editorial a few months earlier, an up-coming revival of Mr. Miracle is mentioned -- by Martin Pasko and Joe Staton! Clearly that version was stillborn).
Although none of these gentlemen might seem of a kind with Jack Kirby, Englehart and Gerber were both seen as auteurs in the mainstream comics biz (Gerber especially). So even if they weren't working in Kirby's style -- they arguably were working in his spirit.
Additionally this collection includes Mr. Miracle's appearances in the Brave and the Bold (the Batman team-up comic) and DC Comics Presents (the Superman team-up series) making this presumably the complete compilation of non-Kirby Mr. Miracle stories of that era.
Arguably Kirby's Mr. Miracle was the lesser of his Fourth World series -- though still with its strengths and appeal. Yet it was presumably the character that seemed most like it had legs -- at least given that the original series avoided the axe longer than its two sister series. Mr. Miracle was, in a way, the Conscientious Objector of the Fourth World cast. The son of Highfather of New Genesis who was raised on nightmarish Apokolips (as part of a treaty) he escaped to earth and took up the profession of an escape artist, using his New Gods skills and technology, reluctantly being dragged back into the conflict periodically.
Unfortunately this revival struggles to find itself -- even as it toys with some potentially interesting and dramatic ideas. Arguably Englehart takes too long to set his course, the first couple of issues just busy re-introducing the characters -- not just Scott Free (a.k.a. Mr. Miracle), wife Big Barda, Oberon, etc., but indeed the whole Fourth World mythology. By the time he settles on an intriguing idea -- he and Rogers are gone. I was assuming poor sales had seen them given the boot -- but equally it's possible they just got restless and moved on. Gerber and Golden come on board and try to take the series in a new direction (probably not ideal: the series only a few issues along and already changing course) even as they actually stick to a similar theme.
The theme? Mr. Miracle decides to turn himself into a Messiah.
Told you it was intriguing.
In the Englehart/Rogers issues he returns to Apokolips, deciding to try to rally the underclass against the rule of evil Darkseid by using his showmanship and escape artistry to turn himself into a folk hero/Messiah; Gerber/Golden shift away from that by returning Mr. Miracle to earth -- but then continue the theme of Mr. Miracle as a self-created Messiah hoping to inspire humanity.
Perhaps part of the impetous for this, from both men, was fixating on the idea of New "Gods" as Kirby labelled them. Kirby never really made it clear what that meant, but Englehart and Gerber seem to take the "god" label much more literally.
In a lot of ways it can feel like the two, in their different ways, were emulating another auteur of the era -- Jim Starlin. Specifically Starlin's Adam Warlock stories over at Marvel Comics. (Englehart and Starlin having collaborated on some comics as well). There's even an issue in the Gerber issues where Mr. Miracle is dragged out of his reality/timeline to be given a crash course in consciousness raising by a higher being that's evocative of scenes in Starlin's Warlock run and also the seminal -- and oft collected -- Starlin-era Captain Marvel comic, "Metamorphosis."
The stories feel like they want to play around with heady themes of religion and Bread & Circuses, Messiahs, free will, individualism, false deities, and the like. Even making me think a bit of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. The comics also try to subvert some of the Kirby-era stories by having Mr. Miracle explicitly reject both New Genesis and Apokolopis, seeing them as two sides of the same coin (as opposed to the more traditional view of New Genesis as inherently "good" -- not that Kirby didn't explore problematic aspects of New Genesis himself).
But as much as the ambition is tantalizing and intriguing -- it doesn't fully work. And the shifting creative teams don't help. As I say, Englehart takes a couple of issues to warm to his concept, but then the issues where they return to Apokolips bubble with palpably grim atmosphere (a number of comics I've read set on Apokolips have been effective -- both in Kirby's run and by later creators). But just as you start to think "Hey -- this might be interesting!" he and Rogers are gone. And Gerber & Golden only have three issues before the lights are turned off on them, too.
A problem both teams have, I'd argue, is a failure to make their characters interesting. Kirby's Mr. Miracle series was less complex than his New Gods or Forever People, plot-wise, but he did succeed in making Scott Free a likeable protagonist, and there was some nice character interaction between the characters, including Oberon and the bombastic Big Barda. Both Englehart and Gerber have trouble making the characters work quite as well -- and completely strip Barda of almost any personality! While they basically re-invent Scott by turning him into this new interpretation. The problem is he seems less like Kirby's Mr. Miracle -- without fully gelling into this new (arguably Adam Warlock-esque) incarnation.
But in addition to Englehart and Gerber (who are seen as significant enough that their names are in the title of this collection) the issues also boast art by two notables: Marshall Rogers and Michael Golden.
Rogers was already becoming noteworthy with his quirky style: somewhat stiff and caricatured people mixed with detailed environments and dynamic and stylish composition. His style isn't Kirby but maybe the next best thing: an artist with his own, equally idiosyncratic approach. Although Rogers isn't exactly well-served by Vince Colletta's inks on a few of his issues.
Then Gerber is paired with Michael Golden. Golden would go onto great acclaim, however this is clearly early Golden and he hasn't quite become the artist he will be. I wonder if Golden's background was in ad and commercial illustration because his characters boast a striking hyper realism, but he hasn't quite mastered comic book storyboarding and composition yet.
Also in this collection are three tream-ups with Batman from Brave and the Bold by writer Bob Haney and artist Jim Aparo. Aparo was a master of comic book art/visual storytelling and arguably is (slightly) better than Rogers and Golden here. While Haney's B&B scripts were often quite nuts and don't withstand much scrutiny -- but for sheer storytelling pizzazz, for page-turning imagination, they're hard to beat. In a way, you could argue Haney's scripts are closer to the madcap tone of Kirby's original Mr. Miracle stories than Englehart or Gerber. There's also an interesting down-to-earth, vulnerability to Haney's Batman that is quite refreshing in contrast to the modern ubermensch Batman. These issues are as much the highlight of this collection as the more thematically ambitious issues.
Rounding out the collection is a Superman team-up -- with Englehart writing again (though with little connection to his run on the main series) and drawn by Rich Buckler. Again, there's a kind of fun Bronze Age storytelling that I'm not sure is done much any more. A story that exists to be a one-off story, to hold your attention with its twists and turns.
Ultimately, the Englehart/Gerber revival of Mr. Miracle is more interesting for its potential -- for the feeling it was onto an interesting idea and themes but neither man quite pulls it off in the time they have. You read it for its "what if...?" possibility -- or thinking that, in this age of reboots and re-imaginings, someone could take another whack at Mr. Miracle-self-created-Messiah in, say, a non-continuity DC Black Label mini-series.
With that said, and though themes and threads are left in limbo, there's enough closure to most of the threads that it can be read years later.
With its mix of fun page-turners (thanks to the Batman and Superman team-up issues) and uneven but intriguing Mister Miracle issues, it's not uninteresting. It's also intriguing for Fourth World/New God completists even as it's not really essential. Along with Conway/Newton's slightly more successful New Gods revival, this era of Fourth World stories seemed to be mostly memory holed/rendered apocryphal by later revivals.
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