Mister Miracle

January 15, 2019
A superhero strives for stasis between his life on Earth and fighting an interdimensional war.Scott Free, son of the otherworldly Highfather, was raised in the hellish pits of Apokolips as the son of villainous Darkseid in an attempt to foster peace between warring factions. Scott eventually flees the infernal torture, relocating to Earth and assuming the mantle of Mister Miracle, escape artist. Scott marries his love, Big Barda, who shared the same tormented upbringing in Apokolips, and the two begin a family. As the war between Highfather and Darkseid intensifies, Scott navigates the minutiae of marriage, fatherhood, and identity alongside the unrelenting and gruesome war in his home dimension. Comics veterans may recognize Mister Miracle from stints with the Justice League, however this volume that collects a 12-issue narrative arc is also a fine jumping-in point for comics neophytes; even the in-jokes are easily accessible. Tackling issues like suicide, parenting, and war, this offering is better suited for older readers; be sure to get it into the hands of those who enjoy Brian K. Vaughan's Saga series. While diversity is nearly nonexistent (as most characters are white), the dynamic between Scott and Barda is refreshing; they are a healthy couple who not only communicate well, but also share bloody battles and diaper changes equally.A solid stand-alone that should have broad teen and adult appeal for those seeking more unusual cape-and-tights fare. (Graphic science fiction. 14-adult)

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Starred review from April 1, 2019

As a newborn baby, Scott Free, heir to the throne of New Genesis, was ransomed to the despotic villain Darkseid to bring an end to an interplanetary war. After years of torture at the hands of his captors, Scott, along with the love of his life, Barda, managed to flee to Earth, where he eventually became part-time superhero and full-time world-famous escape artist Mr. Miracle. He can slip any trap and overcome any obstacle, but when he discovers that he's about to become a father, just as tensions reignite on his home planet, Scott realizes that his traumatic past is more difficult to escape than any handcuffs and that life itself is the ultimate deathtrap. Author King (The Vision) and regular collaborator Gerads (The Sheriff of Babylon) reimagine this classic creation by the legendary Jack Kirby as a man struggling to come to terms with his past in order to create a better future. VERDICT Alternately heartbreaking, thrilling, and very funny, this is a tale of superheroics that for all its interstellar action argues that the struggle to become a happy, functioning adult is the most colossal challenge of all.

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Starred review from February 15, 2019
Jack Kirby was famous for his conceptual and visual bombast, but Mister Miracle may be his most bombastic creation. As one of the New Gods, Scott Free is engaged in a never-ending cosmic battle between New Genesis and Apokolips. Raised in an orphanage/torture chamber by the terrifying Granny Goodness, he's now the universe's greatest escape artist and husband to invincible warrior woman Big Barda. Ingeniously, King uses hyperbole itself as a weapon against a man desperately seeking utter normalcy. With their first child on the way, Scott wants mundanity, but the outsize tone of his backstory stalks him always. He's put on trial for his life by a mad king who's also his stepbrother, forced into impossible choices of life and death as he and Barda reluctantly take command of the New Genesis army, dreading that reality itself might actually be a madness implanted in him by the antigod, Darkseid. Gerads creates a wonder of visual counterpoint, reining this cosmic freak-out into the ironclad normalcy of nine panel grids and playing with body language, lighting, and pixels to craft an ordinary world that keeps coming apart at the seams. This is a most fitting tribute to Kirby by way of King, a tale of epic cataclysm, both delicately devastating and quietly joyful.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)