Jack Kirby's Mister Miracle [Paperback]

Jack Kirby (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (September 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563894572
• ISBN-13: 978-1563894572
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #911,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Miracle Part One, January 22, 2005

By 

M. B. RENTZLER (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jack Kirby's Mister Miracle (Paperback)

There are two volumes of reprints for Kirby's Mister Miracle. This is the first volume which dwells more on the New Gods saga.

The second volume in this series (Jack Kirby's Fourth World Featuring Mister Miracle) takes the series in a different direction as Kirby's Fourth World books (Forever People and New Gods) were cancelled. Mister Miracle found himself in more conventional superhero stories that had less and less to do with the Fourth World.

For the cheaper price you pay you get the art in black and white with grey tones added. The results resembles those old Warren Magazines of the 70's and Kirby's own flirtation into magazines (DC's Days of The Mob).

The story follows young Scott Free as he escapes Granny's orphanage on bleak Apokolips and goes to earth. He assumes the identity of Mister Miracle, escape artist and finds a cast of supporting characters. Similarities between this story and David Copperfield by Charles Dickens abound and are even eluded to by Kirby in the most important story in this book "Himon."

"Himon" deals with a man who goes around the planet Apokolips helping people think for themselves and overcome the brainwashing of the dictator Darkseid. This includes young Scott Free and his future wife Barda, Simon gathers a group of young charges aound him and eventually becomes a martyr for his cause (several times!!!).

The other story of note is the reprint of issue #6 which introduces "Funky Flashman" a very thinly veiled Stan Lee. At the time the story was produced Kirby had just parted ways with Marvel and with Stan Lee (his collaborator) and had felt slighted by him both financially and in creative credit. This was his way of getting it out of his system and it is one of the most biting parodies in comics. Even Roy Thomas catches a bit of the flack in this one.

Vince Colletta inks the earlier stories and is slick in his own way but I personally favor Mike Royer who pencils and letters the stories after Vince left as his strong solid lines really compliment Kirby's pencils and over all general dynamic style.

This is Kirby (as the phrase goes) unleashed and in in his prime.

Well worth it for the price.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Where's the Color, July 19, 2005

By 

Ernest Johnson (Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jack Kirby's Mister Miracle (Paperback)

As a long fan of Mister Miracle comics and a fellow artist who loves the work of Jack Kirby, I find this book as an insult to a great legacy. I didn't know how important color would of meant to keeping the feel and creative mastery that only a Kirby superhero was capable of.

I don't buy the idea that the publisher of this book found it a problem to reproduce the original color. Even I have some of the original Mister Miracle comics and have created PDF files creating several of them and the color is just fine.

If you are a true Mister Miracle fan or comic book collector of any sort please be advised to skip this one and wait for a color version. Black and white takes away the true feel and excitement that I remember while reading a Mister Miracle comic at an early age.

Stay away.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kirby's best creation of the 1970s., May 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Jack Kirby's Mister Miracle (Paperback)

Jack Kirby was undoubtedly one of the true geniuses of the comics industry. He created, wrote and drew his own characters. Kirby's major strengths were his ability to create unique, refreshing characters and to visualize any manner of setting or situation. Kirby's writing was weaker and somewhat simplistic when compared to his ability to put down on paper the cosmic images in his mind or in those of another writer. In fact, later writers would write better stories with Kirby's characters, but it took Kirby to create them in the first place. Mister Miracle, the super escape artist, was one of Kirby's best charcters from his amazingly fruitful stint at DC during the early 1970s. Coming from the horrendous world of Apokolips, Scott Free yearned to follow his own path while battling those from his former world who would destroy him or take him back to that hell. Who couldn't identify with that kind of charcter? While the plotting and dialogue are rather simple, the images are as breathtaking now as they were 25 years ago when I first saw them. That abilty to draw unique and awe-inspiring worlds was Kirby's alone. Again, only Kirby could have imagined these scenarios and the fact that his characters couldn't engage in more lively banter pales in comparison to the backdrop. I appreciate the fact that DC is holding down the cost of the book by reprinting the first 11 complete issues of Mister Miracle's book in black and white, but I would have loved to see these in color again. Kirby's artwork is still wonderful, but the color definitely added to it.