The Longbox Hunter: MISTER MIRACLE #1

In the back of my house, I keep my most prized possessions. My long boxes.  Filled with issue after issue after issue (Guess you could say I have issues) of comic books dating back thirty years or longer.

This is just one of them.

Mister Miracle #1 (2nd series)

First a little bit on this particular issue:  Mister Miracle #1 was written by J.M. DeMatteis and drawn by Ian Gibson. It is the second series for the title and was published by DC Comics on November 22, 1988, with a cover date of January of 1989 with a cover price of $1.00.  The title of this issue is “Be It Ever So Humble…” It is available on ComiXology.

Now onto our hero. Mister Miracle is a member of an alien group of super beings known as The New Gods (both created by legendary creator Jack Kirby.) He is the son of Highfather, the leader of the planet New Genesis. To make a peace treaty with their enemies on the planet Apokolips, the leaders of the two planets decided to trade their heirs to each other; New Genesis got Orion, son of Darkseid, and Apokolips got Highfather’s son who they would (jokingly) call Scott Free.

Scott would later escape with the help of his love, Big Barda (couldn’t make that name up if I tried) and go to Earth where he met the original Mister Miracle, Thaddeus Brown, learning much from him.  After Brown was murdered, Scott took up the Mister Miracle name, had adventures and joined the Justice League International.

Now onto our “issue” at hand, Mister Miracle #1. Minor spoilers for this 28-year-old comic.

Our story opens with Mister Miracle’s “sidekick” Oberon being woken up from a nap by some strange sounds. We come to find that Scott and Barda are in the process of moving into their new home.  Scott and Barda want just to live a simple American life, own a home, run a Fixit shop (hey kids, people used to get things repaired instead of just throwing them away, weird, huh.) and settle down. Scott after a nice long flashback on his origin story finds himself attacked by appliances.  Scott discovers Granny Goodness, who ran the orphanage back on Apokolips, has sent D***** B***** (Spoilers!) to abduct him! What will Barda and Oberon do?

Now does this issue hold up? Let’s look at this on several levels and then overall.

Artwork: The art of Ian Gibson is pretty decent and fits the style that was produced in the late 80s. He tends not to draw noses on his characters, and there are times when the characters become rather angular. He also adds some nice touches like the “Apokoplis welcomes reckless drivers.” sign in one of the flashbacks.  The creatures that are making noise behind our main characters backs are well done, and I really like the page where they carry off Mister Miracle.

Story: DeMatteis’ story is rather simple. In fact, several pages of the story are spent retelling Scott Free’s origins and how he became Mister Miracle.  This is perfect for a brand new series where you want to get new readers up to speed. Through the dialogue, you get the point that all Scott wants to do is have a simple life, no adventuring. He’s done with the day to day superhero life and wants just to help people out one on one in the fix it shop. However, where Scott goes, Apokolips follows to menace him.

Does it stand up?  I say yes.  If you’re looking for a superhero blasting a villain, have patience, this book is just setup for Mister Miracle’s further adventures. The second series of Mister Miracle lasted for 28 issues. Towards the end of the run, you got introduced to a new Mister Miracle named Shilo Norman, and you see Scott take his godhood on New Genesis.

So download or pick up a copy and get reading!