Miracleman #2

I was on vacation last week, and I set aside Saturday for some geeky wanderings. In the late afternoon, I stopped in at a friend's place for a horror movie party he was throwing. From there it was off to the Magic: The Gathering prerelease tourney for the new Journey Into Nyx expansion set.

But earlier in the day, I stopped by New England Comics in New Bedford MA, where they were having one of their big sales.

I picked up some Magic cards and supplies, as well as this comic.

Title: Miracleman
Issue: 2
Date: March, 2014
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: The Original Writer, Mick Anglo
Artist: Garry Leach, Don Lawrence, Mick Anglo, Steve Dillon, Alan Davis, Paul Neary
Colorist: Steve Oliff
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Editor: Axel Alonso

The main feature here is the reprint of Miracleman #2, itself a reprint from early issues of Warrior magazine. It's written by Alan Moore, credited here once again as "The Original Writer". The story introduces Johnny Bates AKA Kid Miracleman, now grown to adulthood, rich, powerful, and thoroughly evil. Mickey Moran is great here as he sees through Bates' suave lies, but Bates as the villain absolutely steals the show. Bates is the best rendition of the Superman-gone-bad concept ever, and this issue is just a taste of what is to come.

The writing has a poetic quality to it that really brings up the intensity level.

Following the main story is an flash-forward segment that appeared in Warrior, but I'm not sure if it was printed in the Eclipse Miracleman series. It's a time travel piece set in the midst of the battle against Kid Miracleman later in the series, and it flashes back to earlier events. It had some good moments, but will probably make more sense to reread later on.

Bonus features in this issue include a "Behind the Scenes" segment showing original pencils and b/w artwork by Gary Leach for the story as it first appeared in Warrior.

There is also a full Marvelman origin story from 1954, which was quite good in places, but also leaned a bit on the typically goofy side. Last up is a short Kid Marvelman story from 1955, which is definitely goofy, and features Kid Marvelman helping out some local kids and improving the attitude of a cop.

The reprint material is fun, and the main story continues to be awesome.

Rating: 8.5/10