Mister Miracle #1 (October 2017)



Creative Team: Story by Tom King. Art and color by Mitch Gerads.

Prelude: The trade volume opens with a twelve page summary of Scott Free’s backstory. It’s framed as a television story with bombastic Kirby narration.



The Story: The bombastic narration continues over a grim scene. Scott Free is lying on the bathroom floor, bleeding profusely after slitting his wrists. Later he’s taken to the hospital, treated, and eventually released. (No mandatory psychiatric stay? We have no evidence that he feels any better.) He’s in the hospital at least a few days since his beard starts growing. It will get longer each issue. He watches a Mister Miracle cartoon on TV; the image has a wavy TV distortion effect that we’ll be seeing regularly.



While dying, he hallucinates about his young self in a regular school, having an argument with his teacher about whether he had drawn God. Note the twin yellow circles on the kid’s shirt. This page's art will appear much later in the series in a new context.



Orion shows up in Scott and Barda’s apartment, beats up on him for a few minutes and then BOOMs back to New Genesis. Hey, why are Barda’s eyes brown instead of blue? (See below for a rare Kirby close-up confirming her blue eyes.) Are we in some dream or alternate universe? Did Scott survive his suicide? Barda's eye color will be a major issue throughout the series, so much so that I have a whole section about it down below. Yes, really.




Still later, Izaya and Scott stroll the beach while Barda sunbathes and surfs the internet on her Motherbox. Izaya says that a highly placed New Genesis spy in Darkseid’s camp reports that Darkseid has achieved the Anti-Life Equation.

Scene change: Oberon puffs a cigar as he helps Scott test some Thanagarian handcuffs. When Barda enters the room, Oberon is gone, and Barda reminds Scott that Oberon died from throat cancer a month prior. OK, things are getting pretty weird.



Over the course of several pages, the menacing report that “Darkseid is.” comes more and more frequently to the nine panel pages. After appearing on one page five times, it consumes the whole next page with its ominous message. Orion appears via Boom Tube and reports the murder of Izaya by Darkseid, and his own ascendancy to the throne of Highfather. The bombastic narration returns on the final page as Barda and Scott, dressed in their costumes, enter the Boom Tube for New Genesis.



Closing quotation from Kirby’s MM #1: Each issue ends with a series of captions quoting directly from the teaser caption at the end of one of Kirby’s issues of Mister Miracle. The new King/Gerads story often juxtaposes ironically with Kirby's captions. This one accompanies a full page of Scott and Barda entering a Boom Tube with “And so the act goes on—to other Satanic and sinister situations simmering with mounting magnitude to juggernaut jousts with the super escape artist’s greatest adversary… Death! He will always be seconds away – swift! Relentless! Final! Follow Mister Miracle! Enter the next trap…”

My Two Cents: Whew. OK, the first issue of any series is often the hardest to summarize, and this one is no exception. It’s loaded with exposition and plot development and mysterious visual and text clues that will be unfolded over the rest of the series, so skipping any of them is a bad idea. Tom King is working in the "pay attention to everything" school of Grant Morrison in such things.




Scott Free trying to commit suicide may seem like an extreme beginning, but it’s not the first time he’s been accused of having a death wish. Oberon said much the same long ago. Isn’t that what all comic book characters do – throw themselves at death for our entertainment? So the question for Scott Free will be whether he wishes to escape life, or whether he wishes to escape death. Because, whichever he chooses, as the master escape artist, he will succeed.



Morrison has also done a couple of stories in which a dying character hallucinates the whole story that follows. One was the Phoenix story "Here Comes Tomorrow" in New X-Men. In Morrison's Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle #4, suicide was the method by which a crippled Mister Miracle escaped “the life trap,” as part of a larger story in which Mister Miracle, like Jesus, escaped death after dying rather than before. But that story was light overall in the New Gods elements, whereas this one is already heavy with Kirby’s characters.





The scene of Orion beating up on Scott, and Scott getting up to receive more, recalls a similar one in the Sheriff of Babylon. Here as there, it's an alpha-male competition between social unequals; the lower ranked person can show defiance by not staying down. In each case, a woman intervenes between the two men, who would probably have continued indefinitely.







The television-style prologue at the beginning of the trade volume appeared in the B&W “Director’s Cut” of issue #1 but not the regular first issue. The narrator goes waaaay over the top with a propagandistic narrative of how wonderful New Genesis is, and how horrible Darkseid is. Seems like we’re being set up for some irony that maybe the good guys are not so great as we’re being told.




You probably noticed that a poster of Kirby’s original Mister Miracle #1 cover hangs framed over Scott’s sofa. What is the status of that series within this series? History or fiction? This first issue keeps the cast manageably small with Scott, Barda, Orion, Oberon, Izaya, and the offstage threat of Darkseid.

Barda’s Eyes: Blue or Brown? So the part where Barda’s eyes are the wrong color... before writing this series, Tom King ended up in the Emergency Room with a panic attack. He felt like he was dying, and he told Paste Magazine that after getting home, everything seemed a little different:

Barda's eyes will flip back and forth in color throughout the rest of the series, just one of the many examples of unreality which will remind Scott what has really happened to him.

Mister Miracle #3 (December 2017)



Opening quotation from Kirby’s MM #3: Accompanying a page of Scott awakening (from a dream of Oberon sawing Granny Goodness’ head from her corpse?): “It’s Dr. Bedlam calling! And he’s going to spring a trap that is as simple and foolproof and sinister as his own existence! Read what lies in store for – Scott Free. Super escape artist! Open the door of Terror!! And drop the Paranoid Pill!”

The Story: Forager visits Scott at home, pleading with him to foment a coup against Orion, who is recklessly throwing millions of troops away. Lightray BOOMs onto the scene, incinerates Forager for treason, and BOOMs away as quickly as he came.



After some time on Earth doing his escape artist thing, Scott is summoned back before Orion, who beats him up while raving about being the face of God. As the beating continues, The image of Orion’s face begins to glitch. Does this just represent Scott losing consciousness, or is it another challenge to the reality of the story?





Closing quotation from Kirby’s MM #3: The text of the final caption below accompanies a page worth of Orion’s face getting progressively more glitchy.



My Two Cents: Again, the Orion story seems very much ripped from recent history in the Middle East, with non-American lives not counted very highly in figuring the cost of peace.

I can’t say enough about Gerads’ art; just take it for granted that it’s impressive all the time. Big Barda really seems immense, as in this scene of Scott spooning her.



Tom King must have a thing for the number 37. It appeared in The Vision as the oddly specific count of the times that Vision helped the Avengers save the world. Its first appearance in this series is in the Instagram handle of an admirer who gets a selfie with Scott and Barda.



Funky Flashman makes his first appearance. He’s Scott’s manager in his Earth job as an escape artist. (Scott reminds Barda that he’s not "performing"; he is actually escaping death.) 



Funky is a huckster, a Kirby character inspired by his former partner Stan Lee. In the Kirby scene below, his fake beard and toupee are falling off after a misadventure. Kirby may mock Funky and his servant Houseroy (representing Roy Thomas as Stan Lee’s lapdog), but Kirby’s style of bombastic captioning seems very much in Stan Lee’s carnival barker spirit.



Scott thinks of the Anti-Life equation in terms of a corruption of the soul, the source of sin if you like. He sees it in his own suicide attempt and in Orion’s haughty and reckless manner. But Scott’s virtue is that he recognizes the problem, where Orion does not.



Barda’s Eyes: Blue or Brown? Barda is either asleep or wearing sunglasses this entire issue. But Gerads and King are careful to give us exactly one panel in which to see that her eyes are brown.

Mister Miracle #5 (February 2018)



Opening quotation from Kirby’s MM #5: Several pages into this story, as Scott and Barda prepare to have sex: “But destiny is on the move with even stranger events! For there are other arrivals from the dread and dismal world of Apokolips! Creatures of Power! Dedicated to destruction! And vengeful to a lethal degree never before seen on the Earth! Their objective is simple – and yet, complex! Their orders read—Trap and destroy Scott Free! Mister Miracle! Super escape artist!”

The Story: How does Mister Miracle spend his three days of freedom prior to being executed on New Genesis? He and Barda go to Graumann’s Chinese Theater in costume (Barda wears her red Wonderbra from Kirby days) and leave their marks in the wet sidewalk. Then he goes a few squares over and compares his hands to the handprints of Jack Kirby, embedded in the concrete during the Fourth World period of his creative life. Kirby's hands are bigger.



Funky Flashman insists on tagging along and talking constantly. He's enthusiastic but somewhat befuddled, calling Barda "Big Barbara." Funky gives away the thesis of this series for those who have not been paying attention: Mister Miracle is dead by suicide, but he can either choose to escape back to life or not; whichever he wants. And either way, viewers (readers) will be entertained. The establishing shots flicker and wave with unreality.




Scott and Barda return to their apartment and engage in bondage play, intermittently overlaid with the video distortion effect. Scott's crucifixion pose represents his upcoming unjust execution at the hands of Orion.



Visiting the grave of Oberon Kurtzberg(!), Scott mainly thinks about joining him in death.



They go for a stroll by the lake. They get snarled in I-10 rush hour traffic. Their car must be British, since the steering wheel is on the right. Just another way that Scott is a contrarian. I don't know enough about cars to recognize the make or model.



They return home for another round of lengthily yet discreetly depicted sex with occasional distortion effects. Funky Flashman arrives with two New Genesis guards to enthusiastically escort Scott to his execution. But Barda bashes in the heads of both guards, and then Funky. Yeah, that’s gonna leave a mark.



Scott’s Shirt: Not only does he wear a Flash shirt for much of this issue, but he also uses his celebrity powers to win Barda a giant Wonder Woman kewpie doll at the carnival. In this reality, the Justice League only exist as merchandise.



Closing quotation from Kirby’s MM #5: This one accompanies a page worth of Big Barda bludgeoning two New Genesis guards and Funky Flashman. 'You know him! I know him! Everybody gets to know a “Funky Flashman!” The question is: “Do we need him?” This can become a desperate issue—if a “Funky Flashman” can decide your fate! Watch Mister Miracle get taken! By the con’s con-man! The funkiest agent of them all!' This summarized Jack Kirby's feelings about Stan Lee in the early 1970s.



My Two Cents: Wow, there’s a lot happening in this issue. One of Tom King’s stylistic choices is that scene transitions always coincide with page transitions. And this issue has more and briefer scenes than many in the series. Big Barda gets to deliver Funky the blow that Jack never gave Stan in real life, as far as I know. Yet Kirby’s bombastic narration style seems very much lifted from the Stan Lee playbook.

Oberon… Kurtzberg? This is of course Jack Kirby’s true surname. I can’t find any significance in the dates on his gravestone, except that the death date confirms Barda’s previous comment that Oberon died recently. The escape-themed epitaph goes for humor and does not resemble Kirby’s actual tombstone. The only hint of Kirby's profession on his own stone is the crown representing his title of "King."



Lounging on a hillside, Scott and Barda have a length discussion about Descartes’ proofs of the existence of man and God, and Kant’s attempted refutation thereof, and the possible critique of Kant. It’s good to see Tom King putting his philosophy degree to good use. Similar dialogue about God’s necessary existence as the Demiurge occurs both in The Sheriff of Babylon and The Omega Men.





Barda’s Eyes: Blue or Brown? They switch back and forth several times, even changing on the same page. It’s often subtle, just a dash of color in a relatively small picture of her iris, but it’s very deliberate all the same.

Mister Miracle #7 (April 2018)



Opening quotation from Kirby’s MM #7: While driving to the hospital: “Would Scott be so foolhardy as to return to the nightmare world from which he escaped? Yes, good friends! It still has roots that must be cut! Roots that could reach to earth and destroy all that Scott has learned to love – his friends! His craft! His new life! And besides – death has the same face – whenever he strikes at – Mister Miracle!" This issue does bring back his roots, with some visitors from Apokolips.

The Story: Nine months pass in the flash of an eye. Scott takes Barda to the hospital for delivery of their baby. The Female Furies, Barda’s Apokoliptic crew, show up at the hospital to hang out nonviolently. Relatives. Whaddyagonnado?



There’s a brief, time-filling scare when the fetal heart tone monitor isn’t properly adjusted, and the baby’s heartrate can’t be verified. But it’s adjusted, and everything is fine. Bernadeth has a gift for Scott which should have all readers invoking Chekhov’s law:



Sure enough, Scott has to use the Fahren Knife, shaped from Darkseid’s own flesh, to cut the umbilical cord. They name the baby Jacob after Jacob’s ladder, the exit from the X-Pit on Apokolips. But of course he’s really named after Jack Kirby, whose real birth name is Jacob. Scott also nicknames him “The Lump,” a reference to another Kirby creation.

Closing quotation from Kirby’s MM #7: This one accompanies a page worth of the newborn baby working his way up to a good cry: “Think of the most ferocious, mind-shattering fight that has ever taken place! And it will fall pitifully short of what awaits our—Mister Miracle! Only the arena of the gods would produce this combat! Only vile Granny Goodness would find an adversary like – The Lump! Only Scott Free has a chance to survive – The Battle of the Id!” This is a perfect caption to describe the howling infant.



Scott’s Shirt: Superman. The delivery room wall has a poster encouraging laboring mothers to “Be a Wonder Woman.”



My Two Cents: The story treats the cutting of the umbilical cord as a crisis moment. It’s actually not something that has to be done instantly, though obviously you don’t want to delay it indefinitely. There’s some dialogue about Jacob not breathing because “the cord is around it” (his neck), but that’s normally fixed when the head is delivered but before the body comes out.



Is Barda’s first name really “Big”? If so, is Mad Harriet's first name "Mad"?



Mad Harriet tells us that this whole story is a dream, but she’s crazy, so no one listens. She also writes “Mad Harriet was here” on the waiting room wall.




Barda’s Eyes: Brown. Or blue.

Mister Miracle #9 (June 2018)



Opening Quotation: Grisly scenes from across Apokolips overlaid with: “The heart of Apokolips lies beyond the greyborders – across the darkening road to Longshadow! Through the clanking horrors of night-time! And rises white hot – at the raging, hissing infernos of the planetary fire-pits! The raw and dirty edge from which great Darkseid draws a mammoth power! – and feeds upon a mighty fear.”

The Story: Scott is meeting Kalibak and Kanto in Darkseid’s castle for armistice talks. Kanto takes Scott for a bathroom break and boasts that he once romanced Leonardo da Vinci. Kanto will later admit this was a lie to impress Scott. Anyway, the bathroom is a big hole in the floor, and we get to see what Scott does not: At the bottom of the pit is Mark Moonrider, in chains. Also, Big Bear’s head is impaled on a pike nearby.



In between negotiation sessions, Scott and Barda sip bloodwine, a beverage fermented from the bone marrow of New Gods. Barda knows how to make such concoctions as a result of her time in the Female Furies. Later, she and Scott gaze into Granny Goodness’ “mirror of goodness,” which shows them the way she sees them: flayed abominations. Later, they take a dip in the firelake, just for old times sake.



Late in the negotiations, Kalibak throws a curve ball. Darkseid is willing to accede to all terms, including the loss of the Anti-Life equation, but his expectation from them is shocking:



Closing quotation from Kirby’s MM #9: This one accompanies a page worth of Scott and Barda’s shocked reaction to Kalibak’s offer. “It hasn’t happened yet. Thought darkness is abroad… the future is still free to all! Thus, from this heavy fragment of “Mister Miracle – past!” we move to the most exciting and dangerous chapter of… “Mister Miracle – to be!”



Barda’s Shirt: It’s one of Scott’s merch items, depicting the cover from Kirby’s first issue.



My Two Cents: The plot twist at the end of this issue could have been handled in two pages at the end of last issue if that were all that’s going on. In addition, Tom King spends a lot of time here fleshing out Kalibak and Kanto, and dropping some exposition about Barda’s expertise in carving up New Gods. But yes, there’s also Darkseid’s shocking “Yahweh and Abraham” moment to deal with now.


Barda’s Eyes: Brown or Blue? Both Barda and Scott have brown eyes here; Scott’s are usually blue.

Mister Miracle #10 (July 2018)



Opening quotation from Kirby’s MM #10: As Bard and Scott take a Boom Tube home to their crying baby: “From the violent world of Apokolips – a small band of refugees finds its way… to Earth! They hastily leap from the Boom Tube which links both worlds! And scan their surrounding with startled surprise! This is not the place they had expected to see! But it’s enough that they are here! Big Barda, Scott Free, and the Mister Miracle to be!” This would make baby Jack the "Mister Miracle to be."

The Story: Scott and Barda return home, shaken by Darkseid’s demand to take their son Jacob. Pathseer analyzes the situation and reports that without the proferred peace treaty, Darkseid will ultimately win the war. Scott goes out drinking with Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. Barda is over-eager to discuss plans for Jack’s first birthday party but flies into an incoherent rage when the Scott broaches the topic of Darkseid’s offer. Her violence awakens Jack, who cries from the other room.



Scott seeks counsel from a store clerk who advocates a purely rational, utilitarian analysis that maximizes happiness for the most people. That’s great buddy, but it’s not your kid at stake. Humans are wired not to be purely rational. We favor those closest to us, and act as if their lives have more value than other lives.



One day at the park, Barda unleashes her pent-up feelings of rage at Scott for slitting his wrists. It’s a tricky balance, wanting to help someone who is hurting yet being hurt by them in the process. Like that original series Star Trek episode “The Empath.” How much of someone else’s hurt can you take upon yourself without breaking into self-pity or worse? Having a depressed spouse is complicated.



Scott decides to confront Darkseid in some sort of feint, pretending to offer baby Jacob but really attempting to kill Darkseid. Having found a plan he and Barda can both live with, they make up and make love.



Closing quotation from Kirby’s MM #10: This one accompanies a page worth of Scott and Barda moving to cuddling and more: “It’s true! They’re in business! But what a business it turns out to be! Life and death set to music! Mister Miracle! Big Barda! And a force so malignant and evil that it threatens more than just: The Greatest Show Off Earth!”



Scott’s Shirts: One promotes King’s Iraq mini-series The Sheriff of Babylon, one is Shazam!, one is Hawkman, and one is Kid Flash. Tom King is on record with Wally West being his favorite speedster. This may suprise those who have read his recent work.



My Two Cents: There’s a humorous moment with Scott using Motherbox to call a Boom Tube, which Tom King treats as an Uber app with a receding arrival time due to traffic.



Little details… the Justice League International apparently have their own credit card.



Or the scene where Funky Flashman has a coded discussion with Scott about the Stan/Jack collaboration resulting in Galactus and Silver Surfer. Tom King sees that Fantastic Four story as a metaphor for Stan and Jack themselves:






Barda’s Eyes: Brown or Blue? I didn’t see any examples of either.

Mister Miracle #12 (September 2018)



Opening quotation from Kirby: As Scott performs an escape act before an audience of real-life celebrities: “Such is the curse of fame! Even if it is in its early stages! Never dreaming of involvement with the strange personalities that lurk in the unseen audience now attracted by his exploits… Our hero basks in the growing sunshine of exposure to the public! But – this is to change quickly! A trap is about to be sprung on Scott Free! A trap which is diabolical in its simplicity! A trap meant for the masked challenger of death! A trap Scott must fall victim to – For Scott Free is. Mister Miracle, Super escape artist!"



Celebrity Guests in the above page: Eight of the seventeen spotlighted faces have been identified; they are comedians and DC folks. Do you know any of the other nine?



The Story: Scott has a series of conversations with ghosts. First up is Granny Goodness, who chides him for putting her mirror in the bathroom. She tells him that this whole series is akin to Terry Gilliam’s movie Brazil, a fantasy Scott concocted to escape from the crushing reality that he never escaped torture on Apokolips.



The death of Darkseid has not ended the war between New Genesis and Apokolips, any more than the deaths of Highfather Izaya and then Highfather Orion did. Now King Kalibak rules Apokolips, and the war goes on, with none of the underlying fundamentals of the struggle changed. This notion that “cutting off the head of the snake” doesn’t really work also runs through the war stories Tom King wrote in The Omega Men and The Sheriff of Babylon, and it is a central theme of his novel "A Once Crowded Sky" as well. While Big Barda beats up Kanto in this season’s battle of champions, Scott drinks bloodwine, and Forager (ghost #2) informs Scott that this endless succession of enemies comprises Hell. Clearly an experience drawn from Tom King’s CIA work.



Barda and Scott go for an ultrasound of their second baby. It’s a girl! They name her Rosalind, after Jack Kirby’s wife.



Orion (ghost #3) appears to mock Scott for killing himself so he could find a happy ending in paradise. Notice that each ghost has a different opinion about exactly where Scott is in this dream, but they all agree that this is not reality.



Back at the condo, Funky Flashman plays “New Gods” on the floor with toddler Jack, who tries to say, "Excelsior!" The last thing Jack Kirby ever said to Stan Lee in real life was, “Stan, you have nothing to reproach yourself about.” Funky says it to himself here.



Darkseid (ghost #4) says nothing. He just sits on the couch, glitching, and Scott props his feet up as he sings Jack to sleep.

Next comes a reprise of the page of the schoolboy who talked about drawing God in issue #1. It’s superimposed on a Kirby splash page of “Young Scott Free” and explains the meaning of the term “Fourth World.” At New York Comic Con 2018, Tom King said that this final issue “reveals what Jack Kirby intended for the Fourth World,” so I assume the quotation is from King Kirby, not Tom King.



Izaya (ghost #5) appears as Scott walks home from the corner store. He condescendingly congratulates Scott for trying to escape depression, a.k.a. the Anti-Life Equation, even though Scott failed. Scott rejects Izaya with words and fists.



Lastly, Oberon (Jack Kirby, ghost #6) appears to Scott, exhorting him not to be a continuity Nazi. This story is just as legitimate as an in-continuity story. In the words of Alan Moore, “This is an imaginary story… aren’t they all?”



Scott tells Barda that he can escape this reality whenever he wants. The final panel of art glitches, leaving the story open-ended as to whether Scott will choose to return to reality or not. The art over the couch now reflects Kirby’s final issue, #18. (Barda had smashed the previous picture in issue #10.)



Closing quotation from Kirby’s MM #18: “The ‘Mister Miracle’ series will not be continued – Its new and thrilling successor will soon be on sale! Look for it! Thank You… ” (creative team names)

Scott’s Shirt: It has a compass rose with astrological signs and a five pointed star superimposed. I don’t know whose logo that is. Later Scott wears an Adam Strange T-shirt. Jack has bibs with Batman and Flash logos.



My Two Cents: Whew, another detail-filled issue. Look how often we are told that Scott has died. Notice once again that the kitchen is sketchy, barely existing in this reality. Also notice Barda’s use of the number 37, which appears as a running gag in many Tom King works.



Scott’s bathroom has Kirby panels framed on the wall. Word balloons and everything.



Tom King fuels the notion that “it was all a dream” by having the opening page recreate, beat for beat and dialogue too, Bobby Ewing’s shower scene from that 1986 episode of Dallas in which his death was retconned away to return popular actor Patrick Duffy to the show. But then King undercuts that notion by having Scott and Barda proceed along the plot line the series has established. Still, a clever homage.





King talked about going to therapy as a child and not getting much out of it, but then returning to therapy as an adult and realizing the clear benefits of working through issues with someone. (Tom King interview)



His latest series, "Heroes in Crisis," uses more mainstream DC characters. It's just finishing publication and has apparently stirred a hornet's nest of controversy as to where it goes, examining the idea that mainstream DC characters would have PTSD from their lives of violence.