REVIEW: Miracleman No.0

As promised at the end of Kang’s latest adventure, the legendary Miracleman is back in print at Marvel, with one of comics most hailed scribes (in my personal top two) Neil Gaiman at the helm, so it was only right that this anthology began with Gaiman’s “Apocrypha”, showing Miracleman breaking the fourth wall and giving a nod to the library that Lucien from the Sandman Universe would know well about. As Miracleman goes into a state of narcissistic tranquility, as he gives himself to the art of escapism, reader’s get the opportunity to peer over the Kimota champion’s shoulders.

Tales by stars like Mike Carey (“Lucifer”) Peach Momoko (“Demon Days”), Jordie Bellaire (“Wonder Girl”), Ty Templeton (“Absolute Carnage”), Jason Aaron (“Thor”), and a tribute to Miracleman creator Gary Leach riddle the library selections collected within this anthology. Stories of childish wonder melded with mature terror that can only come from the true pressures of a cold reality.

The insights are exactly what anyone would hope for while reading Miracleman, and it’s not at all surprising that Miracleman himself gains something similar out of it. This is the beauty of fourth wall breaking characters like Deadpool or She-Hulk, who in a sense are Miracle babies themselves. The way that those types of characters are able to interact with readers within an art that is designed to be inherently an experience in solitude, is something that Miracleman perfected a decade and change before any of those characters got their own successful solo series. The anthology includes tales that will satisfy the inner child, skeptic, and heretic even with the toned down amount of violence from Moore’s 80’s run because … Marvel.

Usually zero issues are previews of what’s to come but “Miracleman #0” is a celebration of what has passed as well. Zero issues also tend to be something that the average reader can just gloss over or entirely skip, but this motely crew of artists that have assembled to create this issue to usher in Gaiman’s new run have created a read just as deep and essential as anything else within the Miracleman library.

Score : 5/5

(W) Neil Gaiman, Various (A) Mark Buckingham, Various (CA) Alan Davis