Written by: Tom KingArt by: Mitch Gerads and Clayton Cowles
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: April 18, 2018
Review by: Dispatchdcu (@dispatchdcu on Twitter)
In my review of this week's Mister Miracle, I pleaded to have someone take over this book for me. Thankfully, Dispatchdcu agreed and is now my hero! I'm glad that this is happening as this book just isn't for me and I'm sure everyone is as bored as reading my broken record reviews as much as I enjoy doing them. Remember, not every book is for everyone and I am so glad to have Dispatch jump on with a different opinion than mine. I hope everyone enjoys this second opinion as much as I did and I hope Dispatch keeps doing these reviews for us...especially this book! Enjoy!!!
Check out all of Dispatchdcu's Reviews HERE
Welcome to the Oblivion Bar where the first round is on me and the pretzels are free! Be warned: like the pickled eggs at the bar, this issue is going to get SPOILED rotten.
Normally, I like to give a rundown of what happened but in all honesty, we can probably explain that REAL quick. We simply look at Scott and Barda juggling the war on Apokolips with being parents. The end.
On one page you have Scott fighting HARD in the front lines leading his troops to war and the other he’s on earth. Sometimes he’s barely succeeding in battle and others he’s taking his son to the park. Scott’s on one page getting broken limbs and the crap kicked out of him and then the next page, you see him at home with baby Jack and their nanny Funky Flashman ( Stan lee) landing food in the “hangar bay ”.
As much as I describe this story hopping around, you would think I don’t like it. But I honestly love it. I love the mystery of trying to figure out what’s going on. And we all know something is not right.
I also love the discussion this comic draws. The theories and ideas that people have are amazing. Everyone assumes Scott’s trapped but is he trapped by Granny Goodness? Is he battling the anti-life equation? Is he trying to escape his life of marriage and family? Does the lump have him? Is he trapped with depression?
After my latest discussion with my friend Bat Brad in the Oblivion Bar, which if you love talking comics and respect people’s opinions we’d love to have ya, he mentioned a very unique and interesting idea. He said that we aren’t given the timeline for this story. The story began with Scott battling depression and attempting suicide. But what if those first issues were actually the end of the story?
What if we are seeing the beginning of the story right now with the birth of Jack and the beginning of the war? What if something happens to there baby and Scott can’t handle it?
Maybe he attempts suicide to escape his feelings, his depression, and this entire arc is showing Mister Miracle trying to escape the loss of his child? Being a father of 3 now, I don’t know what I would do without my family and my children. And I don’t know much about a lot of things. But what I do know is that there are certain things in life that you just can’t escape. Ultimately, I feel like that is the main idea of this entire story that King is writing. How do you escape the inescapable?
Bits and Pieces:
Can the person that can escape EVERYTHING escape loss and depression? And who knows if I’m right or Bat Brad, or any of us. But what makes this comic so dang good is what thought-provoking questions it guides us too. If you are looking for straight answers with a beginning, middle, and end, this book ain’t for you and you truly shouldn’t read it. If you're interested in a great comic and life discussion while enjoying some really cool art and comic characters, this book is totally for you. And if it’s not for you, who cares cause I know it’s for me!
9.0/10
I feel like this book has devolved into nothing more than a Super Hero Slice of Life book, with the veil of mystery around it. All it really has is a mystery I don't really care about anymore, nothing about the mystery has changed and nothing has been revealed. Since the biggest development that was just dropped with nothing coming from it(Darkseid) we've just had stereotypical parent stories with the spice of Super Heroes.
ReplyDeleteI was in on the mystery at first, but at this point I'm not sure any kind of answer will be satisfying, because there's really been no development. The weird stuff that was happening in issue 1 is still happening in issue 8 with no real difference or anything new. If you're not getting anything new on the mystery front all you're really getting is 9 panel slow paced slice of life stories.
I'd honestly label this one of the most overrated books coming out right now.
Thanks for posting the review. It's nice to see what makes a book work for other people. I think a lot of the difference of views on this title depends on your appetite for storylines that are open to interpretation. Personally I don't mind if there is a large "reader interpretation" element in a comic, but I do like to have matters resolved at the end. Too much of King's writing fails to do this for me - I like matters to ultimately be resolved from pieces of the puzzle hidden in plain sight and throughout a story. Nowadays I've little confidence King will do this, which makes me less open to having fun with speculation. I felt let down by aspects of his arcs on Batman where I was building up all sorts of theories to resolve plot points, but was rewarded with unsatisfying returns from King (I am Bane in particular). That said, and as regards Mr Miracle - I have a weighting of about 65% art to 35% story - given the standard of the Gerads' art I tend to be a little bit more forgiving of this title as I think he produces some fine work. Anyway - thanks for posting - it is nice to have a range of views.
ReplyDeleteYour review is how I feel about this book. Something is not right, what we are being presented with might not be real. Is it all in Scott's head? Is he trapped somewhere? Who know's. I REALLY hope that we find out soon because the series is coming to an end and if we are going to have any kind of satisfying conclusion, things need to start getting revealed.
ReplyDeleteWell, it has to be in his head since a bunch of characters (Granny, Highfather, etc) have been seen in the current continuity and Tom King has said this is in the continuity. I just think it will have a grey area ending that leaves some guessing and some pulling their hair out...I will be the later!
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