Mister Miracle #4 Review

My Mind is Gone

Written by: Tom King
Art by: Mitch Gerads and Clayton Cowles
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 8, 2017

It is no secret that I may be the most critical reviewer on this planet when it comes to Mister Miracle.  I have been called names that question my IQ, sanity and worse.  Oh well, another day at the office, I suppose.  I still stand by my opinion of this book, however.  It may turn out to be the best thing since sliced bread, but so far, I have been a bit let down on an issue to issue basis.  Granted, I think Tom King is writing the story with a big twist reveal coming down the pike, but until then, it's hard to put a finger on whether or not what we are getting is great or mediocre, important or frivolous.  You see, while other reviewers are busy looking up synonyms for "awesome", I am trying to find the light bulb over the head moment that will show me that this story is in fact "one for the ages".  Do we get that moment in this issue?  Let's find out...


The issue starts with a narration that interests me more than usual and the arrival of Lightray.  The narration part seems to discount Dr. Bedlam's part in the story (which I think is a good thing), while Lightray is here to serve Scott his Fourth World papers as a suspected Agent of Darkseid.  Barda then sends Lightray packing, a bit more bloody from the experience.

After a little Glorious Godfrey, a panel of Granny Goodness and a possible escape for Mister Miracle, the trial is on.  Orion declares himself  Judge, Jury, and Executioner while Scott helps himself to a carrot and turns his chair around like Michelle Pfeiffer in Coolio's Gangsta's Paradise video.

As the trial begins, Orion does say something that intrigued me..."I would suggest at this point, the war continues in our own minds."  Now that sounds like something very, very important, but he is interrupted by Barda and when things calm down, it is left behind for an extended explanation of the rules (which are repeated a couple times later) and a series of questions to which Scott has to answer true or false to.

This is where I think that the nine panel layout that King seems to love fails the story and the reader.  The back and forth questioning ends up being boring in a robotic way...Did you do this?...True...Did you do that?...False...it has an almost monotone sing song way about it and because of that, it seemed to drag on forever.  It doesn't help that most of the panels are very static and similar.  However, I actually did like the overly obvious way that Orion was trying to trap Scott into a corner with his questioning and even chuckled at the idea that no matter what went down her would end up in a guilty verdict.

In the middle of it all, we do get another intriguing bit where Scott gets a delivery of his new microphone for "the machine", but again, it is quickly swept aside along with my thoughts that it could be the Murder Machine.

That's when we get the biggest moment in the issue.  Scott asks Orion if this is all a trap and reminds him that he escapes from traps.  Okay, that's not a full light bulb moment, but it's damn close.  It gets even closer when Scott flips out about his name and origin and Orion uses the moment to get very personal with his questioning.  Most interesting to me...Scott says "true" to the statement, "hate made you kill yourself".  No "try" in that statement!

It all leads to Scott going ham on Orion and Orion sentencing Scott to death.  The issue ends with Scott in Barda's arms and the narration suggesting that she is at least being used in this story against her husband.

We always talk about our review scores being a gut feeling and while I can't say I had a great time reading this issue, every time I finish it (this is written after my fourth time through), I have the feeling that it is a big step in the right direction.  I already told you my problems with it...boring dialogue, static visuals...but I do think we are beginning to see a bit of the overall story.  Plus, this issue has a bit more of a sense of humor than the others and that goes a long way for me.

Bits and Pieces:

While I'm still waiting for that moment where everything clicks, this issue at least gave hints at something good coming our way.  I still won't go overboard and claim this is a perfect comic, but King and Gerads are slowly getting me more and more into their story.  While that probably means nothing to them, it means a whole lot to me.

7.5/10