Gargunza continues his super-villain narration of Miracleman's origins in this issue, though Moore puts some effort into making it seem more natural than such speeches usually are. At first, it conforms to the standard trope, with Gargunza wanting Liz to be aware of his brilliance and his arrogance blinding him to the possible consequences of revealing the information that he does. However, Moore changes up the usual dynamic since Gargunza really does seem to be in complete control. For example, he reveals that he's installed a post-hypnotic suggestion in Miracleman that de-powers him, obliquely referring to an incident in 1961 that led him to create such an eventuality. Moreover, he mentions two other members of the Miracleman Family - Rebbeck and Lear - that he created, though we're not given any other details about them. These revelations remind us how much information he still has, beyond what we (and Liz and Mike) already know. It seems unlikely that anything that he tells Liz could really be used against him later.
In terms of the larger plot, Moore really asks us to embrace the story that he's telling at face value. He uses the alien nature of the technology that Gargunza used to create the Miracleman Family as a defense against getting too detailed about the process itself. He's telling us that we shouldn't be looking for more practical explanations, because the technology is beyond our human capacity to understand. The only place where I found this assertion difficult to accept was Gargunza's explanation for why he needed to use Liz and Mike's baby to achieve his goal of immortality. First, he claims that he couldn't have his own super-human body, because he's too old. I get that, even if I'm not sure that it would survive careful scrutiny. Then, he claims that he couldn't just imprint himself on Mike's brain, because Miracleman already had a brain implant. I had a hard time following that line of logic, but Moore seems to be arguing that Gargunza could actually imprint himself onto Mike, but it wouldn't work in terms of controlling Miracleman, since he already had a "mature and powerful personality." I can more or less accept that. However, Gargunza then seems to connect the brain implant to the powers themselves, since he says that Liz and Mike's baby won't need to have one in order to have powers. The easiest answer would be that he meant that the baby wouldn't need to switch bodies to have her powers, so she wouldn't need any sort of brain implant to facilitate the transfer of her consciousness from one body to another. As such, Gargunza could then presumably graft himself on such a young and less powerful personality. But, again, I'm doing all the work here making these various connections. Moore isn't asking you to think too carefully about these issues; we're just supposed to take Gargunza at his word. I'm more or less OK with that, but I can't say that it isn't at times distracting.
However, Moore does answer one of my main questions, namely how Gargunza knew the Miracleman Family's identities but the government didn't. Here, he claims that Archer essentially stayed an arm's length from his work, allowing him to do what he needed to do to create the weapon that Archer wanted. Gargunza describes it as a sort of deal with the Devil where he was the Devil and Archer didn't really ask too many questions. I'm not sure that I buy it, but I'm glad that Moore at least addresses it.
Putting aside the details, as Moore seems to be exhorting us to do, the most interesting part of this issue is that Gargunza is finally Miracleman's enemy. Previously, he had only been his enemy in the dreams that he created for Mike to have. Now, they're enemies in real life. In this way, Moore brings the story full circle. We seem to be moving off the issues related to Mike's past and onto problems affecting his present. Moore didn't rush this process, and, as a result, it feels like an organic progression of events. He's asking us to forgive the original sin of this book - a convoluted 1950s origin story - and enjoy the existential dilemmas that Mike and Miracleman must confront. Although it might be difficult to do at times, as it was for me here, Moore seems poised to reward that effort, so I'm willing to do a better job making it.
*** (three of five stars)
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