Mister Miracle might well be the most durable of the myriad heroes and heroines created by Jack Kirby for the DC "Fourth World". As seen above the original concepts were a wee bit different than final product, especially the notion that Mister Miracle might rely on a gun.
Here we see the ultimate design as worn by Thaddeus Brown, the original Mister Miracle. The first issue is noteworthy in that Mister Miracle's costume is decidedly purple. When it went red in the next issue, I always just played it out that Scott had taken the costume created by Thaddeus and added the brighter colors.
Scott Free steps in to save the day and in doing so shows that he has the bravery and spunk to be more than a bystander.
Later he shows that he as skills, talents, and equipment which make him a most remarkable replacement for the original. He takes the role when Brown is killed and makes it his own.
Scott himself, is on Earth hiding from Darksied's terrifying Granny Goodness who took charge of him when he, Highfather's son, was traded for Orion to make a peace many years before. When Scott escapes Apokolips he gives Darkseid an excuse to reignite the conflict, which this time brings the New Gods to Earth.
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Out of all Kirby's Fourth World characters, Mister Miracle probably had the most potential to succeed. In fact, his 18 issue run surpassed the 11 issue runs of the other Fourth World titles.
ReplyDeleteBut sadly only by abandoning the basic Fourth World back story and turning the book into a simple adventure-a-month romp. Barda is a shadow of herself and the addition of a boy sidekick redirected the book. It survived but didn't live. I did like the addition of the son of Thaddeus Brown though. That made sense to me.
DeleteThe basic Fourth World back story didn't help the other mags though, so had MM not abandoned it, it may have been cancelled sooner. Wasn't too keen on the Shilo Norman aspect, but Ted Brown was a good addition. If the whole thing in its new form didn't work, then Kirby has to take the blame. After all, he was responsible for the changes.
DeleteIt was clear that Mister Miracle had to take a different tack, it just wasn't as rich or thematically important as what had come for. Isolated from its mates, it couldn't be. Jack Kirby was a genius who created comics which were ahead of their time. Their lasting value and repeated reprinting in multiple, longer lasting formats is evidence of their importance to the genre.
DeleteI'm afraid my definition of a genius is someone who can do mathematical equations at the age of 3, or produce a cure for cancer and other serious diseases, or can compose magnificent musical masterpieces from a very young age, etc., so as great as Kirby was at what he did (when he was at the top of his game), I think 'genius' is stretching things a bit too far. (And that goes for anyone who's ever worked in comics.) I'd also say that repeated reprintings of any body of work is simply evidence of a publisher's desire to accommodate an appetite for books (of material that's already been paid for, remember), not necessarily evidence of any outstanding quality of the work itself. That may sound cynical, but I think there's a whole lot of truth to it. However, your appreciation of Jack Kirby does you proud, sir.
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