Creative Staff:
Story: Neil Gaiman
Art: Mark Buckingham
What They Say:
Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham’s Age of Miracles begins! Two years have passed since the decimation of London. Miracleman presides over mankind’s Golden Age from atop Olympus. Pilgrims climb its miles-high peak to petition their new god. Each carries hopes that are pure. The motives they conceal, however? Miracleman explores Infraspace in the opening chapter of ‘Retrieval,’ but just what, or who, is he looking for? Including material originally presented in MIRACLEMAN (1985) #17, plus bonus content.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With the first three books of Miracleman out in hardcover form, Marvel’s MAX line is now delving into the next chapter of the property with Miracleman by Gaiman and Buckingham. For me, this was my real introduction to the world back in the day as I had gotten into the Alan Moore works after they had come and gone and had been intrigued by what Gaiman would be doing, while also coming onto it as a big fan of Mark Buckingham’s work. With it having been an age since I last read them, there’s this wonderful sense, similar to the first three Books in the series, that it’s all fresh and new even if it is familiar. With this series, kicking off the Golden Age, it’s all about understanding the reality of the world wherein those that fought the battle and changed everything are running things. What happens when you really do have a god in charge?
The book does a good job in the title page in bringing the reader up to speed with the past works, which admittedly comes across as silly in some ways owing to the material and what it was paying homage to, but it sets the foundations for it while easing us into something that comes across as richer and more detailed in a sense. I won’t say more mature, because the original work was simply going its own way, but here it takes on that element from the period by stepping up beyond the old silly suits and bashing heads. Here, we get to see the “church” that Miracleman has taken over and built upon and how there are those that come to pray to him even amid the age of miracles that exist. With humanity realizing that it is the best of times and the best it’s ever been, there are still things that aren’t right. And this explores a little of it.
To a degree, some of this reminds me of a lot of older science fiction, similar to Rendezvous with Rama, where we get the group of four that have arrived going on a journey as pilgrims to pray to what’s basically a god. This takes us through a strange and unusual world within the tower, climbing hundreds of floors and experiencing an array of unusual things, in their quest to ask of their god directly. The journey of the four strangers is one that reveals different aspects of them as it progresses, though only one expresses his reasons aloud at first, and it makes for a journey of realization as they make their way to the top. The visuals for it have always been impressive, but this recolored and updated version just elevates it, especially digitally, as there is such a richness and pop to the book that it’s so visually striking so as to leave you poring over the pages repeatedly.
Often, the journey is better than the destination. But here it’s on the same level. While I love the richness and weirdness of the journey, in text and visual design, I also love what we get from the meeting with Miracleman. What they ask of him is completely different from person to person and the results are just as varied. But what you get from it is a sense of his ability and power to some degree, with what he’s comfortable in doing and what he’s not, but also that he’s not one to be trifled with even if he doesn’t lift a finger to do anything to those that threaten him. It’s instructive to understand him, but it’s also important – more so in many ways – to understand those that went on the pilgrimage. The heartache and beauty of what’s exposed here from them is fascinating and depending on one’s own upbringing you fill in the blanks with what it all really means and why he does what he does.
In Summary:
At the time I originally read them, Miracleman was a series that took me to someplace new and fascinating that I wasn’t getting from other comics. Works were changing, maturing, and becoming something more because of stories like this. With it having been years since those first experiences, i’ve enjoyed picking up the hardcover collections that have come out. With this series though, I wanted to be able to take it in through the single installments, to revisit in smaller form rather than marathoning through it again, while also enjoying the way the recoloring job comes across on the digital platform. Miracleman is a fascinating work across the board but it’s the Golden Age works and beyond that really made me a huge fan of it. The results here are impressive with what’s been done and I cannot recommend it enough.
Grade: A
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: September 2nd, 2015
MSRP: $4.99