How Are The New Miracleman Comics?

[Timothy Hunter]

After decades of hiatus, Neil Gaiman has come back to finish off his Miracleman run!

Oddly enough I've heard very little discussion about these new Miracleman issues, and the little I've heard is very lukewarm. I've also heard that the comic wasn't selling very well, which is odd considering Gaiman's star power.

I'm waiting for the trade on this one, but I'm curious to hear those who have read the new issues have to say about the long awaited return of the character.

[matt levin]

I've read the first couple issues, which may be all there's been so far, but so far, I'm not too impressed, feeling they've lacked the 'punch' of the "Marvelman" Miracle-man stories.

[CaptCleghorn]

I've read the first couple issues, which may be all there's been so far, but so far, I'm not too impressed, feeling they've lacked the 'punch' of the "Marvelman" Miracle-man stories.

It is extremely slow and low key. After that cliffhanger (and the near three decades wait), I thought there would be more fireworks and characters dealing with the impact, but it's been Dicky dealing with the new world he's woken up in. Legacy numbering the Silver Age as issues 23-28 and reading Gaiman's issues at once, the introduction to the new world was more powerfully portrayed in Golden Age (17-22). This is very slow and padded.

[twiztor]

multiple months between issues and constant delays has been murder for this series IMO. Remember, when they relaunched this in late 2022, they assured us that the series was completed.

MiracleMan: The Silver Age #1- October 2022 (originally solicited for 4/25/17)
MiracleMan: The Silver Age #2- 11/23/22
MiracleMan: The Silver Age #3 (first issue with new content)- 12/28/22
MiracleMan: The Silver Age #4- 2/8/23
MiracleMan: The Silver Age #5- 5/10/23
MiracleMan: The Silver Age #6- 9/27/23 (?)
MiracleMan: The Silver Age #7- 10/25/23 (ha!)

at this rate, we're never getting the concluding story of Gaiman's trilogy, "The Dark Age"

[jwatson]

After decades of hiatus, Neil Gaiman has come back to finish off his Miracleman run!

Oddly enough I've heard very little discussion about these new Miracleman issues, and the little I've heard is very lukewarm. I've also heard that the comic wasn't selling very well, which is odd considering Gaiman's star power.

I'm waiting for the trade on this one, but I'm curious to hear those who have read the new issues have to say about the long awaited return of the character.

They were amazing. So good i went and bought the old hardcover. I lost touch of the series and a few others when marvel had their whole ape in feb covers despite the fact that there was no planet of the apes materials being released. Just made no sense other than to not have customers of color feel comfortable in shops, or at least customers sensitive to that stuff. But that's conjecture.

[Thor-Ul]

The original series of Miracleman was indeed amazing and the issues done by Gaiman, right after the Moore run, were fantastic and a worthy succesor of that run.

But the new one? They are still good, it is just... well if the reception has been not that spectacular, I must say I am not surprised.
Miracleman was very groundbreaking in its original time and I am sure than if the whole Gaiman run would had been published then, it would be referenced as one of the quintessentials runs in comics.
The quality of those books, added to the unfortunate aborted publication, gave to the character and the story an aura of mysticism typical of all those products than never were done, but in the minds of several people became the best thing ever since sliced bread. Maybe the hype was too high and the first issues were dissapointing for those initial buyers. They are however very in the way how Gaiman built his stories, slow paced and every issue showing the paradise built by Miracleman.

But the point is than in these days, in the days of the Boys and invincible, Miracleman it is not that groundbreaking or iconoclastic enough. It has been surpassed, the topics and subjects explored in those initials books had become common ground for everyday books today: A Superman type character controling the world? Conspiracies hidding the real origin of a character? Issues of sex orientation/identity? Cultural clash? A character initially innocent deconstructed in something more dark and twisted? I guess anyone can point more than one comic exploring those ideas today. When Miracleman was originaly published, that was happening in very few books but Miracleman was one of those, at the vanguard. But today, comics moved from that point. Miracleman is just one a mong others and it is not the vanguard anymore.

The comic is good, but, its own mythic quality has been adverse to the story. I think Gaiman knows this and maybe he is rewritting some points, and maybe some surprise is coming. But for the moment it feeels like the new disc of a old iconoclast band reunited again but which is not offering nothing new. For nostalgics and little more.

[kcekada]

I've read the first couple issues, which may be all there's been so far, but so far, I'm not too impressed, feeling they've lacked the 'punch' of the "Marvelman" Miracle-man stories.

Haven't read them, but Gaiman's stories didn't have the punch of Moore's even back then. They were an interesting read, so I wouldn't mind seeing how he finishes his run -- but the really memorable stuff occurred in Moore's run.

[astro@work]

Agree that issues #4 & #5 were too much filler. Feeling padded, with not enough punch.
Dicky's search for his identity in the new world is dragging out too long, and the wait between issues is killing the momentum.

Nevertheless, I am going to finish out the run in the hopes there is more good stuff coming.

[Thor-Ul]

Yeah, beyond the whole "Superhero controlled Utopia" there don't seem be doing so much. You can see the search of Dick as a parallel of Mike's original travel and how different can his own travel will end. But you can't have (narratively) repeating the results. Worse case scenarios are Dicky chosing to die, return to sleep or leaving earth or choosing opposing MM world. But maybe Gaiman can work an interesting twist in any choosing direction.
The worse of all resolutions for the character would be however Miracleman joining the main Marvel universe.

[astro@work]

Yeah, beyond the whole "Superhero controlled Utopia" there don't seem be doing so much. You can see the search of Dick as a parallel of Mike's original travel and how different can his own travel will end. But you can't have (narratively) repeating the results. Worse case scenarios are Dicky chosing to die, return to sleep or leaving earth or choosing opposing MM world. But maybe Gaiman can work an interesting twist in any choosing direction.
The worse of all resolutions for the character would be however Miracleman joining the main Marvel universe.

If they DO add Miracleman joining the main Marvel U, I'm hoping it's a multiverse variant, so that the original stories can remain untouched for that version of the character.
I'd rather Earth-Miracle remain pure, and any 616 appearances be a different version of the character.

[Thor-Ul]

If they DO add Miracleman joining the main Marvel U, I'm hoping it's a multiverse variant, so that the original stories can remain untouched for that version of the character.
I'd rather Earth-Miracle remain pure, and any 616 appearances be a different version of the character.

We knows they are teasing it anyway. But maybe it will be like a lot of others Marel teasings and just it is a bluff:

[astro@work]

So I'm honestly kind of sad this run is not generating more buzz after the 25 year wait to see it finished.

The latest installment (#6) finally had some momentum to it, after 4 & 5 feeling like filler. I almost feel like 4/5 were really supposed to be one issue and then were stretched out with the reprint material.
Combined with the long wait between issues, nearly 5 months of no momentum on the story didn't help. That said, I feel like #6 got the story back on track with more of the darker undertones the series relies on and now I'm looking forward to the conclusion again.

[Thor-Ul]

I am too expectating to see how this story ends, specially considering than Gaiman made a heavy change in the story than inverts the whole idea about who was Dickie and send off balance the whole idea of the Olympus created by Miracleman. I wonder if Marvel would dare to go as graphical as the original series was if everything goes to hell. It would generate impact, undoubtly, but now Marvel belongs to Disney and I don't think they would approve scenes not family friendly.

But as you point, it didn't generate the impact of such work should had caused. The momentum was lost. Also, I don't think than Marvel has promoted the run more vocally. I think they were expecting to the title being reccomeded from word to mouth, but that don't happened. Miracleman, depiste its legendary status was more a niche concept. And the earlier attemps to sold the stories were dissapointing. Everybody wanted to read the legendary Moore run, not some 40s brit books from an almost unknown character.

[DanMad1977]

I would like to know where I can start reading Miracle Man.

I mean, not the unimportant silver age stuff, only the parts where it gets really interesting or good? Should I buy the omnibus? Is MM worth reading before Alan Moore came?

I am a but lost here.

[astro@work]

I would like to know where I can start reading Miracle Man.

I mean, not the unimportant silver age stuff, only the parts where it gets really interesting or good? Should I buy the omnibus? Is MM worth reading before Alan Moore came?

I am a but lost here.

The pre and post Miracleman stories are hugely different.

I would suggest starting with the collected trade Miracleman Book One: A Dream of Flying.
This begins with the Alan Moore material that turns the Golden Age stories on their head. Highly reccomend.

However, if you want a glimpse of the very innocent original Miracleman stories just for a taste of the early stuff, I'd recommend picking up the trade "The Miracleman Family".
I read this in conjunction with Book One and it was enjoyable for the backstory elements.