Today’s Flash Review is for Miracleman #1
(formerly issue number 17) by Neil Gaiman
and Mark Buckingham and published by Marvel
Comics on September 2, 2015. This is a re-issue
of the series released in 1982, with the
creators coming back in 2015 to remaster and
conclude their story.
For fans of Gaiman, this story would have
been right at home in an issue of Sandman.
If you haven’t read anything from the Miracleman
series previously, that shouldn’t be too
much of a problem. The first page gives a
brief history of what’s been going on and
picks up from there. So it’s generally pretty
accessible coming into it as a new reader.
The story begins in an alternate 1987, with
a pilgrimage of sorts, and the world opens
up to you as four characters climb to the
top of a giant church.
I loved how cinematic the opening scenes felt,
and how the world slowly revealed itself in
between a few of the more dramatic moments.
I could feel the vastness and allurement of
the church, and the art and the colors that
made up this world were beautiful. The scenes
are laid out in a variety of different ways,
but I found the panels that were tall and
vertical highlighted the amazing art. And
in true Neil Gaiman style, we don’t get
too much information about the titular character Miracleman,
as he only presents himself at the end of
the issue.
After reading through, I’m glad I’ll get
to experience this story piece by piece instead
of marathoning it over a weekend, because
now I’m curious. I want to know why Miracleman
did what he did to the main character, and
I want to know what happened in the short
at the end of the issue. I’m fine pondering
over these questions for a few weeks and returning
to them later. There are some comics that
are a slow burn and I’m ready for that with
this series. The only negative takeaway I have is that Marvel priced it at 5 dollars. That's
a lot for a re-issue. I can understand
picking up the trade on this one;  personally I
just like taking part in the weekly conversation.
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