Miracleman: The Original Epic
by Alan Moore (Author), Chuck Austen (Illustrator), Alan Davis (Illustrator), Garry Leach (Illustrator), John Ridgway (Illustrator), John Totleben (Illustrator)
Miracleman (Collections and Selections — 1-16, Annual)
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The full story of Miracleman's groundbreaking modern saga collected in itrs entirety! Middle-aged reporter Michael Moran always knew he was meant for something more. When an unexpected event leads him to reclaim his destiny, Miracleman is reborn. The super hero's emergence prompts the return of an old friend who, beneath his success and smile, has become something terrifying. Disturbing secrets about their origins will lead to actions that fundamentally change humankind, leaving Moran to show more question the value of his own life. After all, what is the worth of a man when his other self is a god? MIRACLEMAN is nothing short of a revelation. The series reinvented the super hero and 40 years later stands as one of the single most influential works in the comic book artform. This trade paperback edition collects complete original epic (A Dream of Flying, The Red King Syndrome and Olympus) plus tales of the Warpsmiths and rare Miracleman stories. Collecting: Miracleman (2014) #1-16 and All-New M show lessTags
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Ah, The Original Writer...I mean...Alan Moore. I think he's trying to be as spiteful and tempermental as Harlan Ellison, but no one can out-Harlan Harlan.
I have to admit, I have a love/hate relationship with Moore, and it typically rears both heads within the same series.
- Watchmen? Loved most of it, hated the ending.
- From Hell? Well researched, not bad, but Moore truly defecates on the mattress at the end. Completely ruined it.
- League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? Absolutely loved this...until Moore decided to test the patience of his readers by getting more and more ridiculous.
I could go on, but you get the drift. It feels like Moore starts out with a great idea, and is gung-ho, pedal to the medal with writing like we've never seen show more before, being taken places we've never been before...
...and then...
...and then it feels like Moore either thinks, something along the lines of, "well, I got away with all of that, let's see exactly how much they'll take before the project falls apart" or else it's simply the case of, "no idea how to end this, so let's just through in some unexplained/really bizarre/left field stuff and walk away from the smoking ruins."
This starts out very well. It doesn't bring comics into a more dark, adult sphere of storytelling, it takes the entire genre and pretty much upends it. Which is good. And then Moore unleashes the darkest, unholiest hell imaginable with a truly unrepentant villain. Also good, though it's something can only be done occasionally.
And then, Moore gets weird. The Warpsmiths. The weird talking aliens. The long long long long long long long screeds of quasi-poetic word jumbles that really add nothing to the plot, but they fill pages.
And then Moore decides to paint in his new world as gods would remake it, which goes really hard with the heavy-handedness.
I guess what I'm saying is, in the beginning, Moore is there to show you his chops, and to entertain the heck out of you. But then he turns into that homeowner who's held a party but now decides he wants everyone out so he starts acting obnoxious and petty and loses all interest in entertaining you. Instead, he'll just annoy you until you leave.
So, yes, this was absolutely the game-changer everyone says it was, but then Moore...well, I guess the best way to say it is, he got Moored to the idea that he could do anything he wanted and we'd love it.
Some probably even do, but not this kid.
Four stars for the game-changing bits. And one star off for all the bits I had to basically skip over because they were dumb. show less
I have to admit, I have a love/hate relationship with Moore, and it typically rears both heads within the same series.
- Watchmen? Loved most of it, hated the ending.
- From Hell? Well researched, not bad, but Moore truly defecates on the mattress at the end. Completely ruined it.
- League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? Absolutely loved this...until Moore decided to test the patience of his readers by getting more and more ridiculous.
I could go on, but you get the drift. It feels like Moore starts out with a great idea, and is gung-ho, pedal to the medal with writing like we've never seen show more before, being taken places we've never been before...
...and then...
...and then it feels like Moore either thinks, something along the lines of, "well, I got away with all of that, let's see exactly how much they'll take before the project falls apart" or else it's simply the case of, "no idea how to end this, so let's just through in some unexplained/really bizarre/left field stuff and walk away from the smoking ruins."
This starts out very well. It doesn't bring comics into a more dark, adult sphere of storytelling, it takes the entire genre and pretty much upends it. Which is good. And then Moore unleashes the darkest, unholiest hell imaginable with a truly unrepentant villain. Also good, though it's something can only be done occasionally.
And then, Moore gets weird. The Warpsmiths. The weird talking aliens. The long long long long long long long screeds of quasi-poetic word jumbles that really add nothing to the plot, but they fill pages.
And then Moore decides to paint in his new world as gods would remake it, which goes really hard with the heavy-handedness.
I guess what I'm saying is, in the beginning, Moore is there to show you his chops, and to entertain the heck out of you. But then he turns into that homeowner who's held a party but now decides he wants everyone out so he starts acting obnoxious and petty and loses all interest in entertaining you. Instead, he'll just annoy you until you leave.
So, yes, this was absolutely the game-changer everyone says it was, but then Moore...well, I guess the best way to say it is, he got Moored to the idea that he could do anything he wanted and we'd love it.
Some probably even do, but not this kid.
Four stars for the game-changing bits. And one star off for all the bits I had to basically skip over because they were dumb. show less
A reread in anticipation of finally reading the rest of the Neil Gaiman story I've been waiting on since 1993 after reading Miracleman #24. I didn't know at the time that the finished material for issue #25 would not show up in comic book stores for decades, mired in a twisted and frustrating legal battle over IP ownership.
I'd forgotten how short the original serialized chapters were, causing the plot to unfold so quickly and abruptly. Still, it's amazing to take this in again and remember how exciting it was to see everything you thought you knew about comic books permanently changed in real time. So many shocking turns, so many indelible lines and images.
I have all the Eclipse issues and some of the original Warrior magazines, but it show more was easier to get this new collection from my local library instead of moving around all those boxes in my basement looking for them in the many boxes in which they are probably scattered. I was sorry to see this collection cuts out all but one of the Mick Anglo stories that were embedded in the story in the original comics -- though keeping the framing sequences that surrounded them -- so it's not a complete collection, but good enough.
A PORTION OF A REVIEW I WROTE IN THE 1990s:
One of Eclipse's shining jewels was the MIRACLEMAN comic. Back in the eighties, writer Alan Moore revived the 1950's British comic book character Marvelman for a British magazine called WARRIOR. Marvelman was a transatlantic rip-off of our own Captain Marvel (the SHAZAM! guy, not the Kree warrior). Eclipse Comics brought Marvelman to the states and rechristened him Miracleman to avoid a lawsuit with Marvel Comics. We were thus treated to one of Alan Moore's deconstructions of the superhero mythology. Miracleman was no Superman. In MIRACLEMAN, things got a bit bloody when a couple of villains set out to achieve world domination. Then things got bloody unpredictable, when the hero actually attained world domination himself. At that point, Alan Moore left the book in the hands of a minor writer named Neil Gaiman. show less
I'd forgotten how short the original serialized chapters were, causing the plot to unfold so quickly and abruptly. Still, it's amazing to take this in again and remember how exciting it was to see everything you thought you knew about comic books permanently changed in real time. So many shocking turns, so many indelible lines and images.
I have all the Eclipse issues and some of the original Warrior magazines, but it show more was easier to get this new collection from my local library instead of moving around all those boxes in my basement looking for them in the many boxes in which they are probably scattered. I was sorry to see this collection cuts out all but one of the Mick Anglo stories that were embedded in the story in the original comics -- though keeping the framing sequences that surrounded them -- so it's not a complete collection, but good enough.
A PORTION OF A REVIEW I WROTE IN THE 1990s:
One of Eclipse's shining jewels was the MIRACLEMAN comic. Back in the eighties, writer Alan Moore revived the 1950's British comic book character Marvelman for a British magazine called WARRIOR. Marvelman was a transatlantic rip-off of our own Captain Marvel (the SHAZAM! guy, not the Kree warrior). Eclipse Comics brought Marvelman to the states and rechristened him Miracleman to avoid a lawsuit with Marvel Comics. We were thus treated to one of Alan Moore's deconstructions of the superhero mythology. Miracleman was no Superman. In MIRACLEMAN, things got a bit bloody when a couple of villains set out to achieve world domination. Then things got bloody unpredictable, when the hero actually attained world domination himself. At that point, Alan Moore left the book in the hands of a minor writer named Neil Gaiman. show less
With this and Watchmen, Alan Moore proves himself to be the best at subverting or deconstructing or whatever - telling stories that ground superheroes in reality, done really well. I love the spin he does on the kind of Captain Marvel story and the dual selves we see of the main character - it's not the most ingenious thing of all time, but it's still clever and fun to read. Surprised by how much I enjoyed this
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Multiple award-winning author Alan Moore is universally considered the best writer of graphic novels in the medium's history. Among his many awards are the Hugo Award, the Bram Stoker Award, the Eisner Award, and the International Horror Guild Award
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- Canonical title
- Miracleman: The Original Epic
- Original publication date
- 2023
- People/Characters
- Miracleman (Michael Moran, a/k/a "Mike" and "Micky"); Michael Moran (Miracleman, a/k/a "Mike" and "Micky"); Elizabeth Moran (née Elizabeth Sullivan, a/k/a "Liz"); Kid Miracleman (Jonathan "Johnny" Bates); Jonathan "Johnny" Bates (Kid Miracleman); Young Miracleman (Dicky Dauntless) (show all 43); Dicky Dauntless (Young Miracleman); Science Gestapo; Kommandant Garrer (of the Science Gestapo); Paul Duncan (photographer); Guntag Borghelm; Emil Gargunza (doctor); Firebug; Young Nastyman (Terrence Rebbeck); Terrence Rebbeck (Young Nastyman); Dennis Archer (sir); Evelyn Cream; Steven Cambridge; Big Ben [in Miracleman] (Benjamin Charterhouse Fortescue); Jack Ketch; Owlwoman; Jason Oakey; Hypnos (the deacon of delirium); Miracledog (Pluto, Fenris, Overdog, Miraclemutt); Winter Moran; Miraclewoman (Avril Lear); Avril Lear (Miraclewoman); Aza Chorn (Warpsmith); Phon Mooda (Warpsmith); Huey Moon; Margaret Thatcher; Charles Manson; Mors (Qys); Andy Warhol; Tenga Dril (Warpsmith); Llans Ivo (Warpsmith); Hrrin Luli (Warpsmith); Uxu Chil (Warpsmith); Kana Blur (Warpsmith); Black Warpsmiths; Young Gargunza (nephew of Emil Gargunza); British Bulldog [in Miracleman] (Benjamin Charterhouse Fortescue); Benjamin Charterhouse Fortescue (Big Ben and British Bulldog)
- Important places
- Larksmere, Cumbria, England, UK; London, England, UK; Qys; Boromania (European country)
- First words
- 1956
An age of lingering innocence. An age of golden dreams. An age for the . . . Miracleman Family
The future: What will it be like?
[Prologue] - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Sometimes I wonder why she turned my offer down; wonder why anyone should not wish to be perfect in perfect world.
"Sometimes, I wonder why that bothers me, and sometimes . . .
" . . . sometimes, I just wonder."
[Book III: Chapter Six. Olympus]
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)C'mon, let's go get the bad guys. [The Miracleman Family: Seriously Miraculous] - Original language
- English
- Disambiguation notice
- 472 pages. Contains material originally published in magazine form as Miracleman (2014) #1-16 and All-New Miracleman Annual (2014) #1.
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