Reading "Miracleman" is like reading "Lord of the Rings" after you've already read "Dragonlance:" it's great until you realize that it's actually the template for all the stories that you've already read and then it's amazing.
I'm combining the review of the these two issues not only because I read them in quick succession, but also because it's hard to disconnect them. Micky Moran is scarcely able to process the re-discovery of his powers and past in issue #1 before he has to confront the reality of those powers and his present in issue #2.
This story provides us with a number of tropes that come to define the modern comic-book but also help make the story itself deeper:
1) Micky's wife Liz serves as the stand-in for the reader in "Warrior" #2 (the second half of the first issue), laughing at the 1950s nature of Miracleman. ("Can't you see it? An 'astro physicist' pops up and tells you the 'key harmonic of the universe'...which just happens to turn you into a muscle-man in a blue leotard?") Moore uses her scorn to tease out the fact that Micky doesn't see those experiences in the same way. To Micky, that innocence was real, making its loss all the more profound when he discovers that Kid Miracleman has become evil. In that way, Marvel makes the right call letting us experience the 1950s comics for ourselves. At first, I questioned how someone from that era could read these comics and find themselves entertained in the same way that I'm entertained by the deeper work that Fraction does on "Hawkeye," for example. But, that's exactly the point. It's that gap in sophistication that reminds you that we are dealing with a different age. If people in the 1950s bought these stories as entertainment, it reflects a world that they thought existed, even if it didn't in reality. As such, Micky, as a product of that time, also felt that way. If Moore hadn't used Liz as a stand-in for a reader, I don't think that we would've gained the appreciation for how the 1950s stories set up the 1980s stories that we do here.
2) Moore inserts a story set three years ahead of the present story into the middle of the arc. We learn that Kid Miracleman is now a villain in "Warrior"#3 (the first third of issue #2), but "Warrior" #4 skips to show us the trajectory of the stories to come. We learn that something happens to Liz, though it's unclear if she dies or if she leaves Micky. We also learn that Micky assembled allies, like Firedrake and Warpsmith. However, this information doesn't spoil the story; it only leaves us wanting more.
3) Moore also hints at a number of mysteries that are unlikely to be resolved any time soon, keeping the reader engaged. For example, why doesn't anyone remember Miracleman and his sidekicks? Micky suggests that "they" might've kept it quiet because of their deaths, but who are "they?" We also don't know why Miracleman never aged, but Kid Miracleman did. Is it because Micky didn't spend all his time as Miracleman, implying that he would've aged (though possibly more slowly) if he did? Moreover, why was reverting to one's normal self seen as something that Miracleman and Young Miracleman would've needed to enforce in Kid Miracleman? Why not just stay as a superhero? Moore seems to be arguing that absolute power corrupts absolutely, but it's not like it was all that difficult for Micky to turn into Miracleman. Did reverting to human form frequently really forestall that corruption? By creating a longer arc for the stories that he's telling, Moore moves us from the one-and-done standard story.
4) We also get some really gritty realism, in both the art and the story. The image of Miracleman with half a burnt face as a result of Kid Miracleman's attack is grim, as is the images of Kid Miracleman murdering his assistant. Several reviewers have hinted at the violence to come and I have to admit that my mind is blown at the idea that this series gets any more violent than it already is. But, Moore also has Dr. Gargunza hide an atomic bomb in the ship's remains. Miracleman at one point mentions to Liz that Gargunza was never really evil; in fact, he says that it felt like they were playing a game. But, Gargunza crosses that line and ups the ante. It reminds me of the comment that Riddler made in "Secret Origins Special" #1, where he asks, "What happened to us? The Joker is killing people, for God's sake?" (Why Dr. Gargunza started killing people is another mystery that I'd like to see solved.) Micky's innocent world ended on the day when the atomic bomb killed Young Miracleman and left him comatose; it's only now that he's seeing that. Talk about a grim reality.
The anticipation of whatever is coming that other reviewers have hinted is coming helps fuel my interest in this book. Looking at the books themselves, though, it's really a marvel that Moore's stories hold up so well. We only have a few rough patches. For example, Micky isn't presented as all that smart of a guy, so Moore really pushes the envelope when it comes to getting us to believe that he would've been able to deduce so quickly that Johnny stayed as Kid Miracleman or that he managed to carve a fortress on the ocean floor. Also, the script can get a little wobbly, such as when Warpsmith makes Miracleman recite their plan to let the reader know what it is. But, those are minor complaints. I'd imagine that you knew that you were reading something special in 1982 when you picked up "Warrior" #1. Now, you know that for certain, given the echoes of this book that you see throughout the other issues in your pull list.
**** (four of five stars)
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