Tom King+Mitch Gerad To Write/Draw Mister Miracle

[king81992]

I was reading elsewhere that King is clearly riffing on the sense of unreality that comes to many vets and other public servants who retire, and the guilt that you are comfortable when others are dying or in pain. I think that's clearly the case, but I don't know what he's saying ABOUT it.

Honestly, I can't tell if King is saying that its okay to reject reality, poking fun at the concept of rejecting reality for fantasy or implying people would prefer to live in their ideal fantasy if given the chance.

Or King might not be saying anything at all and decided to end things in a confusing way on purpose.

[millernumber1]

Honestly, I can't tell if King is saying that its okay to reject reality, poking fun at the concept of rejecting reality for fantasy or implying people would prefer to live in their ideal fantasy if given the chance.

Exactly. I can't figure out where the emotional weight of the exploration of unreality and pain and trauma is supposed to be.

I could figure out what the meaning of Omega Men and Vision was. They were complex without being ambiguous. I think ambiguity is a refusal to commit, while complexity is an embrace of difficulty. This miniseries feels ambiguous, and I hope that's just my failure to understand.

[kilderkin]

I strongly disagree here. There has been a lot about what's real and what isn't with this series. Going back to Barda's eye color, that was an issue. The Metron appearance in issue 11 was proof things were off. Now I may believe there may not be a "correct" answer, but there is no way we're not expected to try to figure this out.

I do agree with the apprceiating this as brillaint art part, though. The juxtapositioning of many aspects of Scott's life and the mix of cosmic and mundane along with actually making weird-ass Kirby Koncepts work in a modern story were all wonderful.

I absolutely agree about trying to work out the story in any work, that's always important, if its not as a reader then there isn't really a story

as for the ending, id given up on this making any valuable sense to me a long time ago, its a nice elseworlds trip for me, nothing more

its well written but imo dribbled off from a great start to an ending I never expected to live up to it, but its tom king and imo that's all he ever really does

I'm sure some loved this ending, for me it was a massive but predictable let down,

ill be skipping anything with his name on from now on, good starts that for me just don't live up to it in the endings

dissapointed

[CaptCleghorn]

Is that what it was about? I thought it was about 11 issues too long.

King seems to be one of those writers who really does not like super heroes and seems to be ashamed to be writing them, so he tries to elevate his stories above the subject matter. But this series could have been about anybody -- any shmuck that was unhappy with his life. There was nothing in this that really related to the Mister Miracle that Kirby created and has been in DC comics for decades. It wasn't a bold re-imagining or an addition to the character's legacy. It wasn't even a good Mister Miracle story. It didn't need to be about a super hero at all.

I feel like I wasted my time reading this boring drivel.

King is a very good writer, but if he wants to write about mundane subjects, he needs to stay away of super heroes.

Just my opinion.

I fully accept it's your opinion and it's generally in the minority, which is OK.

But let me bring up the idea of a shmuck unhappy with his life. True, that could be anybody. But the details here and the parts of Scott's life that were covered from drinking with Booster and Beetle to shopping for groceries to war with Apololips to the insane Kirby concepts featured here are all Mister Miracle specific. It's very possible King had this idea and Mister Miracle was the first concept anyone let him try it with, but he tweaked it enough to fit.

And no one who hates super heroes writes about a Stan Lee inspired character and a baby named after Jack Kirby doing a story about the "Golden Retriever." It may be your opinion, but for this part of it, I think you're 100% wrong.

The story wasn't a traditional superhero tale. That's a fact. But each issue held some thrills and excitement and added something. Unlike many modern 12 issue tales, each issue served as a story on its own and in my opinion wasn't boring or drivel. Pretentious might work if you really need a negative term for this, but this was a helluva ride. It was the type of re-imagining Jack Kirby would have supported.

[Robotman]

Regardless of what people thought of the ending, this issue (and series) has sure generated a lot of interesting conversations. I think that is a sign a comic is great. After every issue of Morrison’s Batman run I would love to read the comments and theories about what had transpired. Same goes for this series. Speaking of Grant, his take on the Omega Effect from Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle was probably the best example of “the life that is death”. Darkseid sentences you to a life prison/trap. Seemed to be what was happening to Scott. But he managed to make it a positive thing. So much so that he didn’t want to return to regular DC continuity. The fact that all these character died and remained dead tells us that this wasn’t real. But then there was the part with Oberon, who explained to Scott that the world he was in is much more like the real world where things don’t always end with the hero being “hunky dory”.

DC can choose to incorporate some of the events in this series into regular continuity. Hopefully they keep Jake and Roz (nice shoutout to Kirby’s wife). They can also green light a sequel to this book that will give a more concrete ending.

King spoke about exploring trauma and depression with this series. I think depression (at least from my experience) can make you feel numb and overwhelmed at the same time. People with chronic depression can find ways to cope and even enjoy life but it’s always there. I think that’s what is happening to Scott. He’s coping and finding ways to love and enjoy life, but his depression (Anti-Life) will always be on the fringes making things blurry from time to time.


Awesome to hear that King and Gerads won Eisners for best writer and artist! Very much deserved.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

It's going to take me a little while to process all this, but I think that was a satisfying ending to a very special story.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

DC can choose to incorporate some of the events in this series into regular continuity. Hopefully they keep Jake and Roz (nice shoutout to Kirby’s wife). They can also green light a sequel to this book that will give a more concrete ending.
.

Classic Kanto has already appeared in King's Batman, so the main DCU's continuity is certainly shifting back to the more Kirby-esque versions of the New Gods.

[Hilden B. Lade]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-...rhero-series/?

An article from the WaPo to coincide with #12. King and Gerads confirm in it they have another maxi-series planned that could thematically form a trilogy with MM and Sheriff of Babylon, but it won't be revealed for a while.

[TooFlyToFail]

I get the opposite impression.

It can still be about accepting what it means to be an adult, but still choosing to run away.

He ran from reality, but trapped himself in order to do so.

[kilderkin]

Exactly. I can't figure out where the emotional weight of the exploration of unreality and pain and trauma is supposed to be.

I could figure out what the meaning of Omega Men and Vision was. They were complex without being ambiguous. I think ambiguity is a refusal to commit, while complexity is an embrace of difficulty. This miniseries feels ambiguous, and I hope that's just my failure to understand.

I've reread it a couple of times now

I don't think it's clear and I don't think it was ever intended to be

I don't think I really thought it ever woukd be in fairness but I did hope to get some clarification

I feel like it's been a huge episode of the twihlight zone, but one where I just feel cheated from a conclusion

I really should have dropped this early doors coz I do feel cheated of a proper finish to a good start

Others will disagree but I feel genuinely cheated of a decent ending, but kings left me like this before

It's been praised as a book, but in all honesty it's made me feel like I wasted my money and time

I'll not be picking up any more king books and ill be avoiding this kind of book from dc in the future

I am hugely disappointed in how this has made me feel

[AJpyro]

Overall I enjoyed this crazy story.

[Naked Bat]

I have to admit i'm surprised by some people's reaction. AFAIC I've been convinced since the first issue that the ending wouldn't be a clear cut ending. And I'm convinced to this day that a clear cut ending wouldn't made sense in a story like this. It reminds me of the confusion some people felt at the conclusion of Twin Peaks the return. I won't spoil the show for those who didn't watch it yet, but basically, the last two episodes, episode 17 and episode 18, act in the same way issue 11 and 12 work here.

Tonally and thematically, both works are really close, and their two parts ending work in the same way. You don't get a definitive ending (which some people don't think is satisfying, which they have the right to), but you get an ending that is consistent with the trip: it makes you think, it makes you ask yourself a lot about what happened, and it stays with you.

It's the kind of ending that I love, because it will make you want to read the whole thing again.

I agree with Robotman, about the way this story deals with depression. I don't have depression myself, but several of my friends do, and from what they told me about it, I think they would relate to this story.

Scott saying he can always escape is an optimistic ending imo, so I doubt the message is about suicide being the only way to escape a dour life. I don't have a definitive theory in my head, I'm still thinking about the whole story, what it means, how I understant it. My idea abot it will probably change several times. But to me, that's in no way a flaw, quite the opposite, it means it's a word good enough to stay with me and to keep me guessing.

I'm so glad I read this everymonth and I hope DC will release a hardcover after the TPB because both the art and the writing it make it a special story to me.

[Talon1load]

He guy killed himself in issue 1 and by the end decides that death is a much happier place than living. It pretty much just glorifies suicide. That’s the only thing that seems to make sense with this crap story.

[Naked Bat]

He guy killed himself in issue 1 and by the end decides that death is a much happier place than living. It pretty much just glorifies suicide. That’s the only thing that seems to make sense with this crap story.

you know what does make sense? Stop being obsessed with hating on a writer just because he's popular. You're posting in every thread I see about Tom King, be it here or in the batman thread, and every time, you just say that he sucks, he writes crap stories, etc.

Let's say you're a batman fan and can't stand his run, but if you hate his work this much, why go to the trouble of reading a maxi-serie he wrote?

We get it, you don't like Tom King. But since your only contribution is basically "Tom King writes crap", it would be probably way healthier to simply ignore his work, instead of obsessing about it. Anyway, it's your free time, so you're free to do that, I guess.

In the end, saying about an open ending "that's the only thing that make sense with this crap story" shows a lack of understanding of what an open ending is.

[thefiresky]

Im going to be blunt. Maybe I'm not the only one, but... wtf was this series even about? Im so lost. I feel like i kept picking up issues and everytime i read the new issue i felt like i had to reread EVERY previous issue just to understand and remember what was going on. I don't like to admit when something is over my head, but this was over my head. Id consider myself a RELATIVELY intelligent individual but I feel like I missed something. Im not a Mister Miracle follower by any means, and I felt like I had to of read a plethora of previous continuity just to comprehend each panel. Im not sure that King's depiction on this book played out very well for fans that jumped on to this book with little MM knowledge. *shrug* idk I hope that people who understood it better than I did, enjoyed it. Maybe I'll come back to it down the road with a better understanding of the character so I can analyze the story with better clarity.