Mister Miracle

“Stand.”“...Standing”
This one was a bit of head-scratcher, but as always internet reading and articles cleared things up. I was definitely intrigued to know more about one of DC's more background heroes, who also belongs to the celestial and whacky “Fourth World” of Jack Kirby. Having heard so much about this famous run on the ordinary man turned escape artist Scott Free/ Mister Miracle, I decided to give it a shot and wish there was just a bit more context at the start. I did like the opening origin story, and the art throughout was delightful; nine-panel pages which flow seamlessly and have a cartoony but realistic style alongside some weird ‘fizzles'. Following big bad (dad) Darkseid's acquisition of the Anti-Life Equation, our protagonist tries to escape from Death by committing suicide and the entire run deals with his PTSD, depression and individual coping mechanisms through combat, his family in Big Barda and the insane worlds in which he lives in. Whilst this overlap between mundanity suburbia and cosmic warfare sometimes dulled the suspense, the colourful supporting cast and rhythmic sense of it all does work. There is a clear and really beautiful conclusion, and I fully support the creative team for writing a single-story comic that doesn't want or need to spawn a series, spinoffs etc. Like Darkseid, it just is.