What a difficult wait between issues this has been! Miracleman: The Silver Age #3 – issue #25 of the legacy – is here, and I have to wonder who is more excited: the fans or the creative team? There is a lot of pressure on this one as there’s lots of hype about Miracleman, Neil Gaiman, and Mark Buckingham. I recommend you enjoy this issue for three main reasons: its place in comic book history, its story, and the art for its covers.
Starting with the main cover by Mark Buckingham, I was surprised to learn how he did this piece. Buckingham painted two different parts, one of Kid Miracleman, Johnny Bates, and another of Miracleman himself. Then work was done to create the image of Young Miracleman, Dickie Dauntless, in distress. Once he completed the three pieces, Buckingham tore the art and layered it to make the cover. That is a wild method to make this image, but I appreciate how real and raw the cover becomes and how it connects to the story inside. Sadly this year, we lost artist Carlos Pacheco to ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Still, he has left us a beautiful piece of art in the form of Miracleman himself, adorned with other heroes encompassing the sky in his variant cover.
As you may know, Miracleman has come from many different publishers. Before Marvel Comics became his home, the last issue by Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham was in August of 1993. It ends with a cliffhanger of Miracleman kissing Young Miracleman at the suggestion of Miraclewoman as she has noticed that Young is sweet on Miracleman. If you’re wondering where her suspicions are coming from, go back and check out Marvel’s Miracleman #12: and there is some proof there. I find it interesting that Neil Gaiman decided to take that part from Alan Moore and John Totleben’s story and expand on it. Yet Gaiman has done a great job of taking the story from Miracleman and giving it to Young Miracleman.
I don’t want you to think that the entire issue of the kiss gets resolved all nice and neat in this issue, but Dickie Dauntless manages to put at least one ghost to bed. Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham continue Dickie’s adventure of leaving Miracleman’s home by having him meet up with Jason Oakey; to get more insight on Jason Oakey, read Marvel’s Miracleman #5‘s second story, “One of Those Quiet Moments”. Gaiman picked a perfect character for Dickie to run into at this moment in his journey. Both of these men had run into Miracleman and had been shaped by him when they were young, impressionable boys. The two men form a fast friendship and continue traveling together.
I appreciate that this journey allows both Gaiman and Buckingham to flex these skills. Buckingham works at making a journey up a mountain become something fantastic in a world of Miracles. The new characters and experiences are well crafted to show readers familiar things and extraordinary sights. At the back of this issue is a collection of the original pages for the unpublished issue #25 of Eclipse, and I still appreciate comparing and contrasting the art. Some of the newer choices Buckingham makes are great, but two things that stick out are the dead body of Dickie and the “sinisterness” of Johnny Bates. I think the original Johnny was scarier, but the shock of Dickie’s body is way more intense in this update.
Neil Gaiman doesn’t let up on Dickie Dauntless. I appreciate the struggles, both mental and situational, that Gaiman has Dickie go through. They test the character and also keep the reader in suspense. I like that we’re not with Miracleman and Miraclewoman, and I can’t wait to see their conversation continue. Those parts of the story keep up the hype and will make you want to return for more. We’ve waited 29 years for this, and the creative team recognized that and delivered an impressive issue. The art and story are a joy to behold, and the issue contains quite a few extras to keep you entertained. Now we wait to see what Dickie will do next.
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