Miracleman Book 2 Red King Syndrome

TITLE-Miracleman Book 2 Red King Syndrome
SOURCE-Marvel Hardcover

This is where Moore's run on MM really takes off. Miracleman has learned some of his real origin. His wife is captured by Dr Gargunza.

While MM and Mr Cream are on their way to Gargunza' secret base,we find out why Gargunza helped create Miracleman. Seems he wants to live forever. So MM was created so that in the future he will have a kid. And Gargunza plans on implanting his mind into MM's kid's body.

Once Miracleman makes it to the base we learn that Gargunza has a backdoor. He can say a word and for 1 hour Miracleman is stuck in his Mike Moran form.

If is after revealing this that Gargunza shows us MiracleDogg. And Miracleman in his powerless human form plus Mr Cream get a head start before Miracle Dogg gets let go.

Some quick thinking lets Mike survive. And once that hour is up KIMOTA is yelled and Miracleman gets his hands on Gargunza. 

Then takes the evil scientist up to right where the atomosphere ends. And in a scene that reminds me of Stardust the Super Wizard,MM throws Dr Gargunza at the planet Earth. 

With the big bad taken care of now MM must get his very pregnant wife to a safe place. Which gives us an issue penciled by the great Rick Veitch. An issue that was infamous cause it shows a very graphic child birth scene.

Re-reading this again I really caught how much stuff Moore foreshadows in each issue. And this time re-reading it since I know more about Fletcher Hanks and Stardust I am wondering if Miracleman's costume is not somewhat based on Stardust's costume.

The only negative to this collection,and it is a minor one,is how so many different artists worked on this book. Most for an issue...

Miracleman Book 2 Red King Syndrome gets an A.
 

Miracleman Book One:A Dream of Flying Hardcover

 

TITLE-Miracleman Book One A Dream of Flying

SOURCE-Marvel Hardcover

Far from the first time I have read this first book of Miracleman. Hell not even the first time I have owned this run in Hardcover. But this is the first time I have read the Marvel remastered version. I know about the slight changes to some of the dialogue. And the coloring  changes. 

Published at first in the UK comic Warrior,Miracleman was Alan Moore taking the UK Clone of Shazam/Captain Marvel and updating him for the early 80s comic  audience.

Mike Moran is a reporter. Heading off to write about a protest at a nuclear plant. People take over the plant and when Mike sees the word Atomic reflected backwards he says KIMOTA and for the first time in decades Miracleman is free.

The rest of this hardcover shows us how Mike and his wife deal with learning he is the most powerful being on the planet. And Mike testing out his limits. Which there seems to be none.

The last few chapters reprinted in  this book deal with Miracleman going to where he was born. He learns he is a clone mixed with alien DNA. And all the adventures he had were all memory implants. 

This causes Mike to get angry,and the main part of this Book ends with an angry Miracleman having  destroyed the bunker.

Then we get two Warpsmith stories. Both of which are tied into the main story. And one of which I am  thinking hadnt been reprinted in the US before.

Now with it appearing finally the second part of the Miracleman saga is getting published it is the time to read this comic.

Moore takes the concept of the superhuman ,works that into the real world . And shows us that really all your superhero comics from before this was published were really childish power fantasies.

I have loved Miracleman since being  introduced to it not long after Eclipse started publishing it. Glad these hardcovers are now easy to find and affordable.

Miracleman Book One A Dream of Flying gets a A.

2016 Comic Challenge 263 The Killing Joke

TITLE-The Killing Joke Deluxe edition
PUBLISHER-DC Comics

I am assuming if you are reading this you have read The Killing Joke. If not go track down a copy and read it. It is one of the best Joker stories ever told.

I read it for the first time when it came out over 20 years ago. Pretty sure it was the first time I saw Brian Bolland's art. And was one of the earliest things I read from Alan Moore. But even on that first reading something about the ending didn't work for me. And it wasn't until months later at Gulf Coast Comics that I heard the argument on if Batman kills Joker at the end.I think he does. And from the original script pages it seems like Moore wanted you to wonder if that is what happens.

Now it is time for the complaints. This Deluxe Edition well Bolland has went back and not only recolored the entire story,but also did some touch up the art. I didn't notice any changes in the art,but the coloring to me looks bad. I know this is the original artist's going back and changing it. And it is how he has always wanted it to look. But my eyes are use to the old coloring and they to me gave it a nice dark look that this story needs. This new coloring makes it a bit too bright.

My other complaint is DC's need to add bonus stuff to the collection. An intro and afterword are nice,but to me the Bolland story from the old Batman Black and White mini series wasn't needed. Sure it looked nice in color for the first time. But it feels more like DC adding a few small things so they can charge more for what was originally a $4 prestige format comic.

The Killing Joke Deluxe Edition gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 161 Miracleman #01

TITLE-Miracleman #01
PUBLISHER-Eclipse

Having recently found a second copy of issue #24 of this series I wanted to go back and start reading it again from the beginning. Sure I could read those nice new reprints from Marvel,which while very nice have way to high a cover price.But instead I dug out the old Eclipse run.

Coming out in the summer of 85 I was fairly young when Eclipse started publishing this UK series. Thankfully the comic shop I went to was run by a guy who had lived most of his life right outside Blackpool. So his shop always had copies of 2000 AD and even Warrior. Which back in the mid 80s wasn't that common.Around the time issue 3 hit the stands I was in the comic shop. I had 3 bucks left over after grabbing my normal monthly stack,and the owner handed me issues 1 and 2 of Miracleman. From then until it ended when Eclipse went under I read every issue.

Starting off with a reprinted 60s story of Mike Moran and the rest of the Miracle Family,by chapter 2 we are in 1983 England. Mike is a freelance reporter that is having the same dream over and over. After he is taken hostage by some terrorist at a nuclear plant,Mike remembers the magic word that turns him into Miracleman. And for the first time this world has a legit superhero.

Moore took a character that is basically the bastard grandson of Superman and made him into a much more nuanced and thought out person that Supers has ever been.And even in this first issue there are pieces of what Moore kept doing and brought to the forefront of the comic issues later. The idea that superhero comics are a very childish genre. And in the early 80s and hell even now most of the superhero comics published are written to appeal to kids/middle age man childs. These are reasons I think that some people hate this series. They can't accept that the genre they have loved since they were kids is at it's very core kind of silly and stupid. But being the great writer he is Moore manages to take this childish genre and by injecting a bit of realism make it into something that broke most of the genre rules. And by the end of his run a title that was more science fiction/religious based than just a silly comic with guys in colorful tights punching each other.

Right now is the best time since the early 90s to get into Miracleman. Marvel has reprinted most of the 24 issues Eclipse put out. And what isn't reprinted currently will be out soon. Plus finally Neil Gaiman,he took over the writing of the series after Moore left,will be able to finish his 2 and 3rd stories lines.


Miracleman #01 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 159 DC Comics Presents #85

TITLE-DC Comics Presents #85
PUBLISHER-DC Comics

This issue came out sometime in the summer of 1985,it has a September cover date so that means it hit newstands in July or August.Under that great cover by Rick Veitch you get a story so good it made me a life long fan of the writer and of Swamp Thing. An issue so amazing that since I have read it I track down any artwork from Mr Veitch. Oh yeah forgot to mention this was written by a pre-Watchmen Alan Moore. During the rise of his fame while doing Swamp Thing,Moore and pretty much the entire current Swamp Thing creative team created this crossover with Superman.

When this came out I was buying almost no DC. I had just recently found a semi local comic shop. So what money was left over each month after buying all the Marvel titles I read,was spent on various indy comics. It was right before school started that year. My parents had to go overnight somewhere,I can't remember anymore where they had to go or why,so I was stuck spending the night with my cousin.For years he was the only family I had living near me. So while I didn't like him,never really have,I ended up spending more time with him than I wish. I get dropped off at his house around 3 on a Sunday afternoon. I had barely walked into the house when his mother reminded me that we were leaving in a bit to goto church. I go back to my cousin's room. And he throws me a comic. "I bought this last week and it sucks. Superman never fights anyone. And the plant dude is crap. You can have it." I looked at the cover and I knew of Swamp Thing since I had seen the movie with him a few years before.Right before I could sit down and start reading the comic my aunt yells for us to get out to the car so we can goto church.I grabbed the comic thinking I should be able to read it all on the ride to church. 

By the time the 15 minute drive to church was over I was barely 10 pages into the comic and hooked.I thought I could sneak it in with me. So I put it under my shirt and went in. About halfway through the service,IIRC this Aunt was Southern Baptist so the services were much longer than what I was use too,I excused myself to the bathroom. And I sat on the toilet and started reading the comic. I was almost to the last page when my Uncle knocked on the door. Seems I had been gone for a long time. Before I could put the comic back under my shirt he had opened the door.

The entire ride back my Aunt chewed me out about it. With my cousin egging her on.She had already taken the comic from me. And after she had said "I am so mad at you I have no idea how to punish you." my idiot cousin said "Why not rip up the comic book Mom?" So that is what she did. As soon as we got back to their home. She ripped it up to shreds in front of me. And I was pissed.Mostly cause I never got to finish it.

Years later I did get another copy. Which sadly got burnt up in 96. Since then I had gotten the story reprinted at first in a trade collecting lots of oddball Alan Moore DC stuff.Then a few years ago got a DC's greatest team up stories hardback and this story was reprinted in it. Skip ahead to a few days back. I am killing time by digging thru the cheap bins at the local comic shop. Saw the issue pictured above and for the cheap price couldn't pass up owning it in this form again.

The story is pretty simple. Superman gets infected with some Kryptonian virus. That causes him to lose control of his powers.So he rents a car and starts heading south. He ends up in Swamp Thing's swamp. And crazy from the virus has a run in with the protector of the green.

DC Comics Presents #85 gets a BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 152 Crossed+100 #02

TITLE-Crossed+100 #02
PUBLISHER-Avatar

Our group of scavengers ends up in Memphis. And after running into a herd of elephants,they stumble upon what they think is the Governer's mansion. Which is actually Graceland. While exploring it they find another shrine like they found in Jackson.

Again Moore has dropped quite a few clues as to were this story is heading. But they are subtle. Very subtle.

Crossed+100 #02 gets a Buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 151 Crossed +100 #01

TITLE-Crossed +100 #01
PUBLISHER-Avatar

Yeah after reading Badlands 95 I wanted to go back and re-read the Moore run on  Crossed +100.

We are introduced to a group of humans 100 years after the Crossed outbreak. They are traveling by a coal powered Bus/train/wagon hybrid. And this mission is to get info. Books,films,whatever they can  find. They stumble upon a public library. And are busy gathering books when a family of Crossed attacks.And as far as they know there isn't any Crossed south of the Mason Dixon.

I love the idea of taking the already well established Crossed universe and jumping ahead 100 years. By doing this Moore also got a chance to create a new language. They use words we know. But they have new meanings now. At first it makes this a hard read. But you slowly manage to puzzle it out.

Also since I have already read this,going back I am seeing all the clues Alan Moore left us. First time reading this run I was kind of shocked at the big reveal. But now I am seeing he leaves major clues even in the first issue.

Crossed +100 #01 gets a Buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 068 Horus Lord of Light Hero Premiere Edition #06

TITLE-Hero Premiere Edition #06 1963 Horus Lord of Light
PUBLISHER-Image/Hero

This little oddity seems to be pretty unknown. Back when Image had the great 1963 mini series coming out,in an issue of Hero Illustrated this mini comic was included. It is slightly taller and wider than your normal digest sized comic. And the cover is printed on a heavy cardstock.The insides are all on very cheap newsprint. And as far as I know the only way to get this was to by the issue of Hero Illustrated it was packaged with.

But instead of being just a smaller sized reprint of the Horus issue of 1963,this Hero Premiere Edition is very different. We get the first 7 pages of the normal sized issue.Then four pages of interviews with Rick Veitch and Steve Bissette. But they are done in the style of the stuff from the 1963 mini series. By this I mean the interviews are done as if Rick and Steve are actually in the year 1963 and working for a very silver age Marvel like comic company. After these interviews,which includes a pull quote from Alan Moore,we get the next 5 pages of the Horus comic.And that is it. Nope you don't even get the end of the story. The inside back cover is a reprint of the great "Turn your armpits into the best self defense" ads that appeared in at least one issue of the 1963 mini series.

With all the crap between the various creators of the 1963 characters the chances of us ever getting the decades late 1963 annual,that was suppose to wrap up the first storyline. And I doubt we ever see a trade or hardcover collection of this very under rated series. Now one good thing is because this series came out when any comic from Image would have pre-orders in the millions,there is plenty of copies of all 6 issues. I have never seen any of the issues selling for above a buck since 1995. What might be harder to find is this Hero Premiere Edition. The copy I have is the only one I have seen in years. And it and a kind of hard to find ashcan of one of the 1963 issues are the only other pieces of this unsung masterpiece to come out.

Hero Premiere Edition #06 1963 Horus Lord of Light gets a buy.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 041 America's Best Comics trade paperback

TITLE-Alan Moore's America's Best Comics

AUTHOR-Various writers plots assists by Alan Moore

FORMAT-Trade Paperback

FIRST TIME READING-No

COST-$3.33

Besides a Promethea cover collection,which I got cause it was extremely cheap and got me to the free shipping limit on the site,this is the only other things I have read from  the DC's ABC comic line.I was at my regular con. And a dealer had a spinner rack packed with overstock trades. They were $5 a piece or 3 for 10.I dropped around 90 bucks and he ended up letting me get 30 trades instead of 27.

The trade is a sampler of the America's Best Comics line.Reprinted is the ABC 64-Page Giant,The Many Worlds of Tesla Strong and the ABC Sketchbook.

The 64-page giant reminds me of the last year or so of DC's Adventure Comics. When it became a digest that was stuffed with reprints of a strange bag of heroes. I am assuming this comic was meant to be a jumping on point for new readers. The Promethea 30's style comic strip has nice artwork and is fairly well written.The handful of Jack B Quick one pagers is a nice homage to Golden age comics. With a very Tom Swiftian boy genius.The Top Ten story was decent,but I was expecting a lot more. I guess it was cause I had heard so much praise for Top 10.I am a huge Sergio Aragonnes fan and of course enjoyed his First American story.The best for art and story from this issue is the Splash Brannigan story written by Alan Moore. With Kylie Baker artwork.

The Tesla Strong story has so many artist working on it. With each of them doing a few pages. After having so many 4 or so page stories getting a nice long story was a refreshing change. All of the art is well done. The Peter Hogan and Alan Moore story is so good that I added every appearance of Tesla Strong to my want list.

The sketchbook has some interesting art. But it just made me want to read more stories with Splash Brannigan and/or The Greyshirt. The Greyshirt is a very Shadow like vigilante. And Splash has the powers of Spiderman's foe Hydroman,and the personality of the Golden Age Plastic Man.

To me the 64-page giant is worth the $3.33 I paid for this issue. Then you got the really really really good Tesla Strong story.And almost added bonus of a decent sketchbook.I need to find more comics from the defunct line soon.

Alan Moore's America's Best Comics Trade Paperback gets a 4.45 outta 5.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 040 The Greatest Team Up Stories Ever Told

TITLE-The Greatest Team-Up Stories Ever Told
AUTHOR-Various
FORMAT-Hardcover
FIRST TIME READING-No
COST-$8

I have always like DC comics The Greatest FILL IN THE BLANK series of trades and hardcovers. Back when the first Burton Batman film came out I got the Batman and Joker trades from this line. And read each of them so many times they fell apart.

Back in 2008 I had a lot more disposable income. Was on Ebay looking for decently priced comic trades and hardcovers.I saw this collection. With the great artwork on the dust jacket catching my eye.I looked it up and scoped out what stories are reprinted in this collection. They looked to be a nice selection of both stuff I had read and hadn't read.It had 3 days to go in the auction.So I put in  a bid of $8,which was 25 cents more than the current highest bid. By the time I won the auction I had kind of forgot about bidding on it.

It came in and I filled up my glass with some cold sweet tea.Went out on my back porch. Spent the next 2 hours reading some really fun Golden age and Silver age stories with various DC heroes teaming up.

Oh yeah the stories.There are 15 stories total. 5 Golden age stories,with 3 of them teaming up Superman and some combination of Batman and/or Robin. These are decent. But nothing about them stands out that much.The other two stories team up Aquaman with Green Arrow and Speedy.These two are really fun. I like how Green Arrow has to change up his techniques because of him being underwater.And the Aquaman part of the story has beautiful Ramona Fredon artwork.

There are 6 Silver age stories. And there is much more variety in what heroes team up in these stories.Of course the classic team up stories of the 60s,Flash of Two World,Crisis on Earth-One and Crisis on Earth-two.The Hawkman/Adam Strange team up is a story I had never read or heard of.But after reading it I would rank it with the stories I mentioned a few sentences back.Gardner Fox is the author,with Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson doing the pencils.Mr Anderson pulls double duty by also doing the inks.The Atom/Flash team up....well it isn't anything special. The Alex Toth art is nice.But I have never been a big fan of Bob Haney's storytelling skills.Then the final story from the Silver age,another classic. From The Brave and the Bold #54 it is first appearance of the original Teen Titans.I had a reprint of this teaming of Robin,Kid Flash and Aqualad. But the reproduction of the artwork was really bad. Here it looks better than it ever has.I love the Bruno Premiani pencils. And the only drawback is the by the numbers Bob Haney story.

Finally we get 4 Bronze age/Modern age stories.Before getting this collection I had read 2 of them. The first is O'Neal & Adams Green Lantern #76 from Spring 1970. What can be said about this comic? Really it has been discussed indepth for over 40 years now. All I can say is that I do enjoy it,but feel that it feels a bit dated. Which isn't really a bad thing,the story is 44 years old. The next story is one I have never read.It is the story about how if Krypton hadn't explodes Kal-El would have been the greatest Green Lantern of all time. I have never been a Superman fan. There is at the most 10 or so Superman stories I even enjoy. This is not one of them.We jump ahead to the very early 80s. From Brave and the Bold #178,the Jim Aparo drawn team up of the Creeper and Batman. Kind of surprised I had not read this issue before getting this collection. From the very late 70s until the series ended I rarely missed an issue of Brave and the Bold. This was the title that not only made me a Batman fan,but also introduced me to so many DC heroes and villains.And when Jim Aparo was drawing it I tried my best to never miss an issue.I loved this issue so much. The Creeper is a low enough level super powered hero that he works very well with Batman.And finally not only the last issue in this great hardcover,but the best issue in it. As I said above I am not a Superman fan. But DC Comics Presents #85 is one of those 10 or so Superman stories I enjoy. The first time I read it was not long after it came out in the fall of 85.My cousin had bought the comic. We were 11 or 12,and had found out the local library had a comic book trade. He had bought the issue of DC comics presents cause he was a big Superman fan. And he did not like it. He hated it.Before we got into his mothers car to go trade comics he asked me if I might want it.I looked at it and saw Superman was teaming up with Swamp Thing. At the comic trade that summer I had gotten a few issues from the 70s Swamp Thing run.So I agreed to trade him one of my Gi Joe comics for the issue. It got buried in the pile of comics I got that day. And at least a week went by before I read it. Holy Hell what a great story. Wait I am just assuming people reading this know who wrote it and did the pencils. Alan Moore wrote the comic.Rick Veitch did the pencils. So you got the at the time current creative team on one of the best comics of the 80s. OK enough gushing. This is one of my favorite comics. And one I think every comic fan should read.

Lets see. This is a well made hardcover. Out of the 15 stories 9 of them are great. The other 6 suffer from either being very dated or starring heroes I have little interest in. But even the stories I have no interest in the artwork is reproducted so well.

The Greatest Team-Up Stories Ever Told gets a 4.05 outta 5.

Supreme:Story of the year

Supreme:Story of the Year

written by Alan Moore
art by various artists


This is a trade reprinting the first 13 issues of Alan Moore's revamp of Rob Liefield's bad ripoff of Superman. Alan starts it off with a clean slate,and we find out that Supreme has been away in space for almost 30 years,and has huge chunks of his memory missing. Over the course of 13 issues we are introduced to the various people that are part of Supreme's world. In his secret identity Supreme works as a comic artist on the Omniman title for dazzler comics. Omniman seems to be a thinly veiled ripoff of Superman. We also meet the current writer on Omniman who is a British man. And who I think is heavily based on Grant Morrison. Moore leaves various little clues through out the first 5 or so issues in the collection on how this storyline will end. Things like mentions of various superheroes that Supreme teamed with back in the 40's,50's,and 60s that has disappeared without a trace. Or when Supreme meets his old high school sweethart that lives in his hometown,and runs a Supreme Museum. Throw away mentions of stuff like how Supreme's mortal enemy Daris Dox has died,turn out to be major clues to what will happen later. Moore also tries his best to work in all the corny stuff that was in the fore front of the silver age Superman stories. And unlike those corny ass Superman stories Moore makes them work. Like how Moore takes the concept of Superman/Supreme having a dog that has the same superpowers. Superman had Krypto and Supreme has Radar. But thanks to Alan Moore's writing talent Radar turns out to be a vital part of the story,were as Krypto seemed more like a gimmick. Moore has also through out this storyline had flashbacks to various adventures of Supreme from before he left for his journey through space. And all these flashbacks take on the form of comics,which are done in the style of comics of the eras the stories are set in. Moore also takes two other Liefield creations,Diehard and Glory,and turns them from one note hero/heroines and fleshes them out. Then in the last two issues we get the last parts of the puzzle,and can now see how Moore has been leading up to the final big conflict with one of Supreme's biggest enemies. Another aspect of the trade that I liked was how Alan Moore has thrown in subtle references to various comics artist of the silver age. The art is good to great,I still wonder why it seems no artist managed to stay on the book for more than a few issues. But even with the artist changing every few issues it is still well drawn,and the flashbacks look exactly like the eras they are supposed to have happened in. I give Supreme:story of the year a A.

Sweet zombie Jesus

WOW!!!!

I have been looking for this softcover for a few years now. I have seen it for sale on Ebay,but refused to pay what most people wanted for it. Well all the waiting finally paided off. I am currently on vacation on the Mississippi gulf coast. And there is a great comic shop in this area that I try to visit everytime I am down here. Well I was looking at the Tradepaper backs and hardcovers and found Kimota sitting on the shelf.I was figuring it would be priced at at least $30. But it had no price anywhere on it,well besides the original price. And since I know that it is not only out of print,but in high demand I figured it would be priced way over what I want to pay. Well I pick it up and go to dig through the $1 bins. The owner of the shop walks by and ask me if I had read much Miracleman. I told him I had read it all and only needs this book and issue 24 to complete my collection. Turns out he has a few copies of 24 and goes to the back to pull one out. He brings it to me and it looks near mint. So I gather up 24 and kimota and head to the register. Figuring I am looking at at least $80. He tells me Kimota is $10 and 24 is $25. I tell him I'm more than glad to give him 40 or 45 for both,but he refuses. So I paid for both and then went back to the dollar bins and bought about 20 comics. Kimota is a guide to one of the most under rated comics of the 80s/90s. Written by Alan Moore and later on Neil Gaimen,Miracleman was one of the earliest deconstrution of the superhero genres. This guide has interviews with almost everyone that was ever involved with the series. And shitpiles of unreleased artwork. I'm only about half way thru it and already have learned so much about the history of the comic. I urge anyone who has read Miracleman to seek out and buy this book. Kimota earns a sold 9.5. If it had more color artwork it would get a perfect 10.