Advance Review: Miracle Kingdom #2 (of 5)

They say He works in mysterious ways. He may well do, but in the second issue of Miracle Kingdom from Scout Comics, we find that whilst the motivation from above may be unknown, it is more down to earth greed that moves the book forward.

Winston, an forensic angel has taken on board a case of mistaken entity of sorts, with a television evangelist seemingly curing diseases and help those that can’t walk, well, walk again all for the price of your dollar and possibly your soul. Can Winston discover what the heaven is going on?

Michael D. McCarthy follows up an interesting first issue by laying the ground work for Winston’s world. True the first issue, seemed more about the Lester, though it is not unusual to focus on the bad guy if the good guy is too strait-laced (see Batman ’89). Here, McCarthy takes us through a world and his investigation much akin to Obi-Wan trying to find Kamino in Attack of the Clones. It comes to light that they are greater mysteries than He would lay claim for. The script does a great job of treating the reader with intelligence, mixing up the idea that we should accept this world with minor explanations thrown in a non-expositional manner. Using secondary characters, such as Digby, is a great to do this, confirming the world and its environs without actually making us question it. The villain of the piece, nor his “disciples” are forgotten as each element is moved along, utilising the five issue mini-series format to its pacy perfection.

The art is provided by Alonso Molina with a nice easy going stylings, which adds a level of juxtaposition to the tone of the writing, in parts at least. In Winston we have a very genteel type of Clark Kent person. The art reflects this perfectly, along with charming devil with a smile Lester. The contrast exists in the victims of the case Winston is working. Molina’s art is details, something that can be lacking in the indie books. This gives the book a more in depth lived in kind of feel. The lightness of dialogue is well matched by the colors from Ansori Ichsan, giving all environs shown a richness of texture. I would liked to have seen darker element infiltrate the story given the idea of false prophets, miracles and the intimation of you know who. Letterer Lucas Gattoni does a great job with the font and its use; the book is quite wordy in place, yet thanks to Gattoni neither detract from the art or pacy of the story.

I have covered two religiously themed book over the last couple of weeks. Each one has a different track to be sure, there is a consistent thought of not taking everything at face value. In this book, who knew Heaven had to be so officious? Ironically, this sound like Hell to me! In Miracle Kingdom, McCarthy and Molina have crafted a book that surpassed my expectations.

Writing – 4 Stars
Art – 4 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars

Overall – 4 Stars

Written by; Michael D. McCarthy
Art by; Alonso Molina
Colors by; Ansori Ichsan
Letters by; Lucas Gattoni
Published by; Scout Comics

Miracle Kingdom #2 is due in stores 21st June 2023

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network