Super Powers #1 (3rd Series)

Unlike the previous two miniseries, where all young readers needed was a rudimentary knowledge of the characters and vehicles being highlighted in the Kenner toy show, with the beginning of series 3, you'll be required to have done some homework. The story opens after the events of DC Graphic Novel #4: The Hunger Dogs. Despite being a huge fan of Kirby's Fourth World, I've not read that book. Being in my mid- forties, I'm able to figure out what's happened between the ending of Super Powers, Vol. 2 issue #6 and Hunger Dogs.

The citizens of Apokolips have deposed Darkseid. The former ruler has lost his Omega beam powers and impotently resides in a prison complex personally designed by Mister Miracle. Darkseid's son, Orion, has arrived to ensure that the villain cannot escape or be freed by his remaining allies.

Speaking of allies, Kalibak and Steppenwolf have hired a renown bounty hunter named Tyr to free Darkseid from his prison. To do that however involves the frosty super villain, Mister Freeze who happens to be plotting a break-in at a super secret research facility on earth, light-years away. Using technology from Apokolips, Tyr uses an energy beam to given Mr. Freeze dynamic strength on par with Superman. Good thing that the Man of Steel is assisted by Firestorm along with all-new Justice Leaguers Cyborg, Plastic Man and Shazam. However, it appears that Freeze is too much for the heroes and is about to claim total victory when not one but 3 new Super Powers arrives on the scene. But are these characters friend or foe?

When it came to the new characters for Kenner's third wave of Super Powers figures, there were highs and lows. I was super excited about the additions of Plastic Man, Cyborg, Shazam and Mister Freeze. Only I never could find Cyborg or Shazam. I'm a cold weather fan, so getting a Mister Freeze was like a dream come true. Though I thought the 90s reissue in which the figure turned blue when you put him in ice was way cooler. I didn't know who Tyr was. So I never got him. Same with Orion. Mister Miracle was a character that I knew a little bit about and I remember having a figure of him. As for those mystery characters, more on them in my review of issue #2.

The biggest crime of wave 3 was the lack of mini comics. That had been such a bonus when you bought the figures from the first two waves. Another penalty was the promise of a playset representing Darkseid's fortress. It was scrapped due to the warning popularity of the toy line. However, you can get an inside look of what might have been with the scenes inside and out of Darkseid's jail as it looks exactly like that abandoned playset.

A good read. Just not geared towards kids who were at the time the primary consumers of Super Powers. I think the more adult approach was just another reason why this would be the franchise's swan song until a recent revival by Todd McFarland.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Mister Miracle: The Great Escape

I write a weekly column on my blog called Family Comic Friday. I originally was going to review this for that post. But after I completed this book, I decided it wasn't appropriate for that.

In the very beginning of this book, there is a trigger warning about how details in this book involved talk of suicide and experiences of PTSD. Not to mention there's a whole academy of youngsters being trained to become soldiers by beating everyone else's brains in. But no. Neither of those reasons is why I decided not to review this for my weekly family review. It's because of the swears. They're all here. Even the BIG one of all-time- the F-Bomb!

Amazon rates this 2022 young adult graphic novel for those in grades 8-12. I'm completely fine with that. But my local library has this book put with the kids graphic novel section. I'm not one to ban books. But I do think it's my duty to let the library know that they've got this book placed in the wrong age group lest some irate parent start a protest demanding Mister Miracle: The Great Escape become the latest victim of a good ol' fashioned book burning. 

That last sentence is about as ironic a statement I can make as the planet on which this book takes place, Apokolips, would like nothing more than to eliminate any and all things considered seditious to the reign of the New God, Darkseid. So if a parent did in deed decide that this young adult graphic novel was destined for the furnace, they'd very much be enacting the despotic actions of the scum of Apokolips! Plus, with changes done to the characters, I am sure there will be some comic book fans out there wanting to cry foul! 

When I checked this book out, I actually knew very little about it's publication. Even though I check the previews of new comics and graphic novels weekly, I somehow overlooked this book. I am a huge fan of Jack Kirby and I'm doing everything in my power to collect any and everything Fourth World. So when I stumbled across this book at my LCS, I was very excited. 

The main change from this book and the original vision of Jack Kirby is the skin color of Scott Free and several other characters are reversed. At first, I thought that this might be yet another attempt by DC to be what detractors call 'woke.' But then I remembered from reading a Jack Kirby biography recently that Kirby wanted Mister Miracle originally to be black but the editors vetoed that idea. So in reality writer Varian Johnson (The Great Greene Heist) is fulfilling Kirby's original plan for the Fourth World.

See when Jack Kirby came over in 1971 to DC Comics, The King planned to make Apokolips this post-apocalyptic world that was an allegory on class warfare and face. Darkseid and his elete minions were supposed to all be white. While the dregs of Apokolips, the war dogs of Darkseid's army, were all to be people of color. The heavenly people of New Genesis, including Scott Free's real father, Highfather were going to be black (or of color) just like Scott and Big Barda. However, this vision of Kirby's Fourth World was just decades ahead of its time. I'm glad to see it coming to fruition finally, even if it did take 50 years to happen and only occurs in a Young Adult novel that probably isn't canon.

While I enjoyed the changes, I wasn't a big fan of some of the artwork. Artist Daniel Isles (Joyama) draws some characters as if they had a Muppet nose. Instead of a tip and pair of nostrils, some characters noses are completely outlined with a nose-like circle. This makes them look like Bert and Ernie with their foam ball proboscises.

I also didn't like how Scott Free was drawn in his downtime clothes, which looks like a hoodie and sweatpants. Though I wonder if these are some of Himon's Earth clothes and he's given them to Scott so that if he ever escapes to Earth, he'll fit it. If that's the case, I am okay with it. But what the heck is up with those tiny red balls that float around Scott all the time?

I loved Isles design of Big Barda. She's tall. She's rough. And she looks like I would imagine Kirby would have drawn her if the legend was allowed to use a woman of color as a model instead of Jewish chanteuse Lanie Kazan. And the twist with Granny Goodness- that was a brilliant character design that I didn't see coming. 

I did feel that the 3rd act of this book was rushed. It's a trap a lot of comic book and graphic novel writers get into. The first two acts really dive into the hierarchy of the orphanage run by Granny Goodness. The climatic last act is supposed to occur over the span of 8 days and yet maybe only 10-15% of the book's 208 pages is devoted to that time period. Wasn't bad. Just seemed rushed. 

If Varian Johnson and Daniel Isles decided to do a sequel, I would be so on board. I'm interested to see how the character of Shilo Norman would be approached- if introduced. As a compromise to bypassing his dynamic social relevant vision for Scott Free, Jack Kirby created the character of Shilo, a young black pre-teen who one day would become Mister Miracle's replacement. We've already seen Shilo don the suit of the World's Greatest Escape Artist. I'm just interested to see if the creators of this book would make Shilo white to really explore the race-switching nature of this book or if they might make Shilo be of another marginalized race like Asian or Middle Eastern. 

There's a lot left to be explored with this most authentic version of Jack Kirby's epic creations. And I'm willing to camp out to be first in line to acquire it should DC decide to green light a sequel.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

 

Mister Miracle: The Source of Freedom

When I first heard about this 6-issue series, I was ecstatic. I really enjoyed the Tom King/Mitch Gerads 2018 Mister Miracle mini which left me with many questions. Namely, I wanted to know if Scott Free survived his reality-bending encounter with the Anti-Life Equation or did Mister Miracle really succeed in killing himself and everything that happened was just the last moments of thought for the New God? So when I found out that Shilo Norman was the star of this series, I didn't think I was going to get my answer!

While myself and countless comic book fans are getting tired of legacy heroes, Shilo Norman is one of those legacies that I can get behind. Shilo was the creation of Jack Kirby. First appearing in issue #15 of Mister Miracle, Shilo was the ward of the original Miracle stuntman, Thaddeus Brown. Before Scott Free came to Earth, Shilo Norman was being trained to become the next Mister Miracle. But not being older than a pre-teen, Shilo wasn't ready yet to take on the Mister Miracle mantle. 

Shilo Norman would eventually don the red and yellow costume when he became an adult. Sometimes he would share the Mister Miracle title with Scott Free. But after the continuity altering events of Final Crisis and Death of the New Gods, for the most part, Shilo Norman was the sole celebrity stuntman/superhero on the block.

In this story, set in the some years from now as part of DC's Future State story line, Shilo Norman has created a multi-media empire as an escape artist thanks in part to Thaddeus Brown's training and a mysterious computer device called mother box. Keeping his identity a secret, his agent is pressuring Shilo to unmask as public opinion about capes, his in particular, has started to wane. Someone has hacked all of Mister Miracle's social media accounts and begun a campaign of their own accusing Shilo of being a fraud. 

The accuser is N'Vir Free, the daughter of Scott Free and Big Barda. Only Shilo Norman has never heard of Scott and Barda! And why is a mystery man named Oberon offering to fill in the gaps about these seemingly unknown entities?

Written by Brendan M. Easton (Transformers: Deviations), this story captures the decades long African American struggle in Metropolis and places South. Easton's account of Thaddeus Brown, now cast as a black man seeking his fame and fortune during the Civil Rights era was powerful. So much to the point, I think he should have written The Other History of the DC Universe. (To be fair, I've not read that yet, so this opinion might be moot. We shall see.)

After completing this read in less than 24 hours, my verdict is just. This is a great read. I get some of my answers as to what happened with Scott Free. I was also okay with the new race casting of Thaddeus Brown. Why Easton does this was actually quite satisfying but I'm not a liberty to say more about that. Spoilers, sweetie.

The Source of Freedom is a book deep in Jack Kirby Fourth World lore and Multiversity history and quantum mechanics. A lot of the events that occur in this book are the results of Dark Nights: Metal and its subsequent sequels. Normally, I say it's okay not to read such and such before you read the book I'm currently reviewing. This time, I really don't think you should skip it. Metal really explains a lot of what's happening here.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Mister Miracle

Shortly before my state’s quarantine mandate went into effect, I headed over to my local library for some graphic novel and trade reads. One of the trades available had been on my wish list for some time: Tom King’s Mister Miracle. Running for 12 issues from October 2017- January 2019, this version of the world’s greatest escape artist was rather trippy. But King, along with artist Mitch Gerads, managed to stay pretty faithful to Jack Kirby’s original Fourth World vision in the process.

Mister Miracle
Written by Tom King
Art by Mitch Gerads
Covers by Gerads and Nick Derrington
Publisher: DC Comics

Originally published as Mister Miracle, issues #1-12.

Scott Free grew up in the orphanages of Apokolips run by the tyrannical Granny Goodness. Scott spent every waking moment he wasn’t being tortured trying to escape Granny’s fire pits. Finally achieving his goal, Scott traveled to earth and became friends with Mister Miracle, the world’s greatest escape artist.

Scott’s planned time in the shadows was short-lived. When mobsters killed the original Mister Miracle, Scott takes over the identity and eventually becomes an even bigger celebrity (and eventual hero) with the help of his manager Oberon and his former Furies leader wife, Big Barda.

Tragedy befalls the Mister Miracle household, sending Scott Free into a spiraling free-fall. Deeply depressed, Scott attempts one last escape. Slicing open his wrists, Scott takes his own life only to be snatched away from death thanks to paramedics! 

Or did he?

Controversial Batman writer Tom King tackled a bunch of metaphysical concepts in this maxi-series. What or who is God? What is reality? By the end of this title, you’ll be asking yourself if one man’s hell can be another paradise? While a lot of the concepts are explored but never truly explained, the reader will get an answer at the end of this story as to if Scott Free is dead or not. OR maybe not.

This Mister Miracle story is essentially a crisis story. Not just for Scott but for all of the New Gods on New Genesis and Apokolips. Darkseid has achieved the anti-life equation and the forces of Highfather and Orion will risk everything to stop evil from winning. 

But with all of DC’s crisis stories, the ending often gets mired with open ended finales. And for the most part, that’s exactly what happens here. Though, I do feel that this was one of the least open-ended stories produced on a level with CRISIS. Maybe I am not really clear here. I rather enjoyed this Tom King/Mitch Gerads production. 

Mitch Gerads (The Sheriff of Babylon) was a huge factor in my appeal of this Mister Miracle run. I forgot how alluring Jack Kirby had made the Amazon-like Big Barda. But Gerards quickly reminded me! And what he is able to do making some of the more surreal moments of this book look like an old school rabbit ears TV set struggling to get a clear reception was a thing of mastery!

Gerards won an Eisner award for his work on this book in 2018. Tom King did as well. But really, it’s the stunning visuals that make this book a New Gods series unlike any other. Expect lots and lots of red ink to flow through these pages. And with that, readers should expect lots and lots of death. Whether that body count includes Mister Miracle is up for interpretation.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Scooby-Doo Team-Up #45

Hoping to study up on future escape techniques, Fred and the Mystery Inc. gang attend one of the extravaganzas of the reknown escape artist, Mister Miracle. Backstage, the detectives meet Scott Free, his apprentice Shilo Norman, hype-man Oberon and Scott's wife Big Barda. It's here that minions from Apokolips attack Mister Miracle and wind-up kidnapping Daphne, Velma and Barda. 

Despite knowing full-well that the attack is a trap and that Darkseid wants Scott Free back on Apokolips for good, Mister Miracle returns to his home world  to save his wife. Shaggy and Fred make the Boom Tube trip as well in hopes of rescuing their missing partners. However, it all appears too late as the girls appear to now be under the power of that dastardly task master, Granny Goodness!

There is a very large chunk of Fourth World characters appearing in this issue. However, other than a few images of Darkseid on posters and other media, don't expect the baddie to be in this issue. I thought having Shilo in the story was another one of those faithful nods to the original source material on the part of Sholly Fisch. But in terms of other New Genesis heroes like Orion and Lightray, it appears that Fisch may be saving them for a future issue! One can only hope.

Let's talk about something else that was curiously missing: Jack Kirby. Kirby was the creator of all things Fourth World, including Mister Miracle. While a large portion of those characters, settings and tech were used in this book, there was no legal mumbo-jumbo acknowledging Kirby's creation of said characters. 

I double-checked on this. In the DC's Nuclear Winter Special, there's a blurb on the inside cover stating that Kamandi was created by Jack Kirby. It's right under the list of credits given to Siegel and Schuster for creating Superman, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson crafting Batman, and so forth. Those such honors have been in other Scooby-Doo Team-Ups past. But somebody forgot to honor The King in this book!

After a one-month holiday absence, I was so eager for this series to come back. It did not disappoint. Dario Brizuela's art was as perfect as always. The plot and jokes were fresh. It didn't feel like a typical Scooby-Doo comic book. It felt like a missing 1970s script of Mister Miracle with directions by Kirby, script by Fisch and finished by Brizuela. 

A must for fans of DC's Fourth World!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Tales of the New Gods

An eclectic collection of stories featuring Jack Kirby's Fourth World. Some of the tales were originally explored by the King himself whereas others expound or even completely develop some the origins of the various background characters that inhabit New Genesis and Apokolips. Featuring the awesome writing and artistic talents of John Byrne, Mark Evanier, Frank Miller, Steve Rude, Art Adams, and dozens more, this is a volume you don't want to miss.

    The episodes in the volume were originally printed in Mister Miracle Special, Jack Kirby's Fourth World, and Orion. That in no way means that you shouldn't collect Fourth World or Orion because with the exception of the Mister Miracle Special, the other chapters reprinted here were backup features to those titles. If you was to omit them from your collection would mean that you would be missing out on two dynamic titles from the 90s as each story is only about 4-8 pages long (and the titles Tales of the New Gods were contained are about 4 times more in length.) So if you were to find Orion or Fourth World in a dollar box or cheaper, you would still be making a wise investment in completing your Fourth World collection.

    I knew about this when I bought this book at a used bookstore a while back. I was so desperate to read more adventures about the New Gods, that I gladly shelled out some hard earned cash knowing very well, I will probably sell this book once I collect the previously mention titles that contain these legends.

    If you are new to Kirby's Fourth World, I strongly encourage this book as a primer. Some of Kirby's work isn't easy to dig into, particularly New Gods. This work is the perfect way to learn of the backstory of such important characters like Darkseid, Highfather, and the Infinity Man; all of which Kirby plotted out their origins but never got around to diving into in his Fourth World titles in the 70s as the entire line was cancelled in less than 2 years due to poor sales.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Jack Kirby's Fourth World Featuring: Mister Miracle

This second volume of Mister Miracle's original series exploits signal a time of change for both the heroic escape artist and his creator Jack Kirby.

    It's 1972 and Kirby's Fourth World Experiment has been deemed a failure. New Gods and Forever People has been cancelled after only about a dozen issues each. Lack of readership and a bigger lack of faith on the part of the DC editors signalled a quick end to the exploits of Highfather, Orion, and Beautiful Dreamer.

     But because Mister Miracle was more of a super-hero title than a cosmic saga, it managed to survive for another 8 issues. In the last volume, Scott Free won his temporary freedom from the clutches of Granny Goodness and Darkseid. Now, Miracle, his assistant Oberon, his girlfriend, the fierce Big Barda and some of her lieutenants from Apokolips, the Furies, travel the country putting on a travelling sideshow. They are assisted with the help of the original Mister Miracle's son acting as their road manager. 

   Exploring haunted houses, fighting an assortment of ghouls, and uncovering various crime cartels, the series turns into a trippy adult version of Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Gang, minus the dog. However, Scott gains a sidekick in the form of a young boy named Shilo Norman. 

   Shilo witnessed a murder and until he can testify against the criminals, Miracle is named his guardian and bodyguard. (If you read the 80s Mister Miracle Series or Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers, you'd know that Shilo will one day inherit the mantle of the World's Greatest Escape Artist after Scott retires from superheroing.)

   Though this volume covers the end of Kirby's run at DC, this isn't the end of the Fourth World. This isn't even the end of the Mister Miracle series. Thankfully readers and management at DC saw Kirby's work as the masterpiece it was and revitalize this series (and New Gods) again around 1977-78. Sadly, the DC Implosion of titles due to company-wide poor sales and evener poorer distribution practices lead to both titles being cancelled once again (and permanently) before the begin of the Reagan 80s. 

    If you want to collect the last 7 issues of this series, you'll have to search. Issues 19-25 have to this point never been collected or reprinted. The same goes for New Gods 12-19.

    Another Kirby triumph. Though the Furies start dropping from the scene by story #4 and it's not explained why. But some other odds and ends left unresolved from the last volume and due to the suspensions of the other Fourth World titles are addressed.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Jack Kirby's Mister Miracle

   This black and white collection reprints the first 10 issues of the King's dynamic debut of Mister Miracle. Scott Free is a fugitive from orphanages of Apokolips. Seeking refuge, funds, and some excitement, the young man meets the aged magician Mister Miracle. With Miracle's experience and Scott's array of futuristic technology, the two look to revitalize the Mister Miracle traveling magic show.

   But when a master criminal assassinates the old man, Scott assumes the mantle of Mister Miracle to avenge his fallen friend. Along with his new sidekick Oberon, Mister Miracle then travels the country, escaping from an array of insane traps, and righting wrongs all while fighting off a rogues gallery of Apokoliptian soldiers tasked with bringing Scott back to his home planet for judgment at the hands of the dastardly Granny Goodness.

   Of the titles in Kirby's Fourth World series, Mister Miracle was the only one I remember reading as a kid. He was a member of the Justice League, so to me he was a real established superhero. Names like Darkseid, Orion, New Gods, and Forever People- theose were like those non-super star baseball cards you got while looking for a Jose Canseco or Nolan Ryan in a package of ball cards. I considered them commons. I would get dozens of Kirby titles in grab bags as a kid and I'd toss them into the corner of my comic book trunk and read the few Superman and Batmans peppered throughout. Man, how wrong I was to overlook this Jack Kirby gems.

   I've overlooked that mistake nowadays, collecting the Fourth World series reprinted in trades. Mister Miracle and Jack Kirby's Fourth World Starring Mister Miracle represent the final two pieces to the Fourth World puzzle that I was missing. The adventures of Mister Miracle, Oberon, and eventually the female fury from Apokolips, Big Barda were the most like a superhero comic and thus are the most sought after of the Fourth World titles. It took me forever to find these for less than cover price. (I've seen this book sold for as much as $100 on eBay and Amazon- no joke!) But once I did, I snatched them up before anyone else had a chance to beat me to it.

    A beloved treasury that is worth every penny- if you can find it. A little goofy, a little odd, but a whole lot of fun and adventure.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
 

Joker: Last Laugh Secret Files & Origins #1

While imprisoned in a ultra-high level security facility, the Joker learns that he’s got terminal brain cancer. Armed with the knowledge that his days are numbered, the clown prince of crime has a very tricks up his sleeve for some bucket list mayhem.

This “prequel” to the Joker: The Last Laugh mini-series (and cross-over) has a great opening chapter, several small vignettes that give insight into Joker’s demented mind, and character info of several key players. The biggest surprise is that of Shilo Norman, the replacement Mister Miracle. As the great escape artist, I am quite familiar, but as a prison employee in charge of preventing escapes, that’s a new slant on the hero and a very fitting one.

I like what I read so far and finding the Last Laugh mini-series is now a priority in my wish list.

Worth Consuming.

"Secret Origins (3rd Series, 1986-90) Issue #33"

WORTH CONSUMING!

It’s hard to put it. Mister Miracle was such a letdown. Not at all what I thought his origin would be like. The others were good, but they’re such “forgettable” entities, I hardly remember their names, much less their origins. Proof Positive that JL Europe was a mediocre title (I’d later recant this statement). Still, for some reason, I give this a worth consuming and I cannot figure out why??!!!?