Mister Miracle #2

Writer: Tom King
Pencils and everything: Mitch Gerards
Published by: DC Comics

At the end of the first issue of Mister Miracle, a comic that has to be read to fully appreciate the greatness that is King and Gerards partnership, we were told that Highfather is dead, it’s Darkseid’s doing, and Orion has taken control of the forces of New Genesis. Oh, and Scott Free is more than likely suffering from PTSD and knows something is wrong with him.

We start this issue with what I can only imagine a soldier must feel when on the battlefield trying to repel enemy forces: fighting a series of never-ending battles with little to no respite all at the urging of their general/higher up. The first five pages beautifully depict this never ending battle that Scott and his wife Barda have embarked upon at the urging of Orion. Gerards continues in this issue to utilize the nine-panel page as we see Scott descend deeper and deeper into this fight for New Genesis against the forces of Darkseid.

King, however, smartly counterbalances these scenes of war with more intimate moments. First we get a scene where Barda and Scott are back in New Genesis completely filthy after a long, hard-fought battle, and all Scott wants to do is take a shower. I should mention, this is a shower he has no idea how to use.

Scenes like this one, coupled with a tense moment with Orion and Lightray, a vision from Metron, and an unexpected dinner party with Granny Goodness, help elevate an already great comic.

The thread that was first explored in issue 1 that Mister Miracle is suffering some kind of form of PTSD continues in this issue as King explores potential paranoid delusions that Scott may be experiencing, see: Metron vision and a poignant scene with Granny towards the end of the issue.

On art, I’ve already mentioned above and in my last review that I have been thoroughly enjoying Mitch Gerards work in this series. This issue is no different and may actually have made me a bigger fan. I’ve already mentioned the 9-panel structure, but I haven’t mentioned probably my favourite use of it up to date: page 18. That’s all I’ll say.

The one thing I’ll add, it is very apparent that Gerards does it all: from pencils to inks to colour. And the colour is some of my favourite. I am always a fan when an artist utilizes colour to distinguish between worlds and Gerards does just that in Mister Miracle: you know when Barda and Scott are on Apokolips or are in the middle of battle - the colour scheme will be much darker and “redder”. Whereas, while on New Genesis, Gerards continues his distinctive style of rough drawings, but we are treated to a much lighter colour palate with extensive use of yellow.