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Mister Miracle #1
Review posted: 02 Oct 2005
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Pasqual Ferry
Publisher: DC Comics
1.00 out of 5 Stars
Reviewed by Adam White
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It’s official: Grant Morrison is smoking crack.
That may sound harsh, but it’s the only way I can explain
Mister Miracle #1. I had been excited about this title for a
while now, and it’s really the only thing he’s doing at DC
that I’ve even been remotely interested in (other than Zatanna).
However, upon reading this issue I felt that Jack Kirby, myself, and
all other Mister Miracle fans had been collectively slapped in the
face and spat upon at the same time.
The “new” Mister Miracle is “a
cross between David Blaine and Puff Daddy” (from DC’s
solicitation), which really should have been my first clue that
something was rotten in the state of New Genesis.
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The writing, if you can call it that, is just plain bad. It reads
like some high school kid’s grand “re-imagining” of Mister
Miracle (Factoid: Re-imaginings didn’t work for Tim Burton, and
they won’t work for you). The “new” Mister Miracle is “a
cross between David Blaine and Puff Daddy” (from DC’s
solicitation), which really should have been my first clue that
something was rotten in the state of New Genesis. Morrison makes
Miracle into a show-off escape artist with absolutely no explanation
as to what happened to the real Mr. Miracle or why this poser is
wearing his costume. Then there is a procession of characters,
including whores, a crippled elderly guy, and a pimp, that are all
analogous to the real New Gods characters. It’s a sophomoric
attempt at a rehash of existing characters, a kind of “What if Rob
Liefeld had created the New Gods.” Really, I could almost see
Liefeld’s “art” accompanying this story. It was a needlessly
confusing mess throughout, and an opaque attempt at being clever that
failed miserably.
Pasqual Ferry’s art didn’t quite live up to the
standard of excellence he set with Adam Strange, but with such a
totally bogus script I imagine it was hard to waste much effort on it.
Ferry has truly come into his own as an artist in the last year or so,
and his talents were sadly wasted on this inane project. The book
would have been better served by hiring Rob Liefeld to do the pencils,
because then the “art” would have matched the writing and
it wouldn’t have lasted more than one issue anyway. Let’s
please put Ferry on something worthy of his talents.
The whole Mister Miracle #1 debacle should be quietly swept
under the rug and replaced in a year or so with a story focusing on
the real Mister Miracle. Or it could be used in an anti-drug campaign
as evidence of what happens when good writers acquire bad stashes.
It’s just lazy and pointless, and does nothing but make me
question what happened to the Grant Morrison that wrote Animal
Man?
Morrison used to do great work until he became the “JLA” Grant
Morrison (“Catwoman…” — that one’s for you, Brad).
Now he’s just, well, DC’s burnt-out version of Bendis.
Skip this one at all costs.
—CCdC— Cover image used without explicit permission in accordance with the "Fair Use" provision of US copyright law.
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