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Of all the mags JACKY KIRBY produced for DC COMICS during the early to mid-'70s, my personal fave is SUPERMAN'S PAL JIMMY OLSEN. Not because I was a particular fan of young Mr. Olsen per se, but because it was good to see the 'King's' take on the character of the mighty MAN Of STEEL. Having said that, however, Jack did manage to imbue Jimmy with something he'd never had before - serious entertainment value. Before Jack took the reins, Olsen's tales were all rather whimsical and twee, and young 'Red' was a bit of a one-dimensional milksop.
But it's not Jimmy Olsen we're here to talk about today - it's SCOTT FREE (yup, corny name), otherwise known as MISTER MIRACLE. After Jimmy's mag, Mister Miracle was the one Kirby Komic (in my view) that deserved a title of its own. The FOREVER PEOPLE and NEW GODS seemed more like supporting characters to me, without the requisite clout to carry their own books. However, MM was something else entirely, and the concept of an escape artist (either with or without the NEW GENESIS/APOKOLIPS connection) had wagonloads of potential.
Mister Miracle was the longest-running FOURTH WORLD title, managing to last 18 issues before cancellation, freeing up Jack to move onto other projects. Kirby's most successful DC mag - in terms of longevity - was KAMANDI, and it's doubtful we'd ever have seen it if Jack's earlier books had survived.
So, let's remember the JIM STERANKO-inspired (so legend has it) escapologist with a look at the covers of the series, starting with the first nine. Part Two will feature the remainder of the run, so be sure not to miss it. And if you have any thoughts or theories concerning the mag (or even personal reminiscences), feel free to share them in the comments section.
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I agree that the New Gods and Forever People might have worked better as supporting characters or guest stars (like the Inhumans in Fantastic Four) than as stars of their own titles. Mister Miracle had more potential, because he could star in stories that were not necessarily tied to the Apokolips-New Genesis war. Then again, his specialty was kind of limiting. Each issue had to feature a spectacular escape. Kamandi seemed derivative (Planet of the Apes) to me. -TC
ReplyDeleteI think Mister Miracle's relative somewhat greater success was because he's more properly a superhero, certainly more so than the Forever People (a soap opera on steroids) or New Gods (an allegorical character study with teeth).
ReplyDeleteMM had pert nasty villains, an actual rogues gallery of sorts like Batman or Flash, so he was easier to digest for the superhero fan looking for a neat read.
I read that Miracle is returning, the lovely Barda in tow to the New 52. Looked good I must say, though I never figured out how the mask works.
Rip Off
Every cover is a winner.
ReplyDeleteAs a comparison I had a wee look at the other april releases by dc and the Mister Miracle cover stands out a mile.
I love the scan above though,a 15 cents cover,kind of puts it in perspective for me.I was seven years old in 71.I would probably have read this when I was about 9.
If you dont mind ,heres the dc wiki link for that month
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Category:1971,_April
Every cover a winner? (Some more than others, I'd suggest.) Then you're bound to love the next 9 covers in the run as well, Baab. So stay tuned.
ReplyDeleteKamandi and Jimmy Olsen were my personal favs of Kirbys tenure at DC at this time - Mr Miracle always looked good but as I only ever managed to track down 2 issues I never managed to get into the book - but really like the covers here. On Jimmy Olsen was it not the case that Supermans face was re drawn but Curt Swan and others? McS
ReplyDeleteAl Plastino redrew most of the Superman figures (and faces) and Jimmy Olsen faces in Forever People #1, and Murphy Anderson repencilled most of Supe's faces thereafter in Jimmy's mag before Mike Royer took over the inking. Personally, I didn't mind - Jack's pencils of Superman made him look as if he was wearing a bad toupee.
ReplyDeleteFor some curious reason, my response to TC and Rip has been deleted. What's confusing is that my computer tells me I did it, but if so, it must have been an accident. Let's see if I can remember what I said.
ReplyDeleteTC, legend has it that it was Carmine Infantino who suggested Kamandi to Jack, asking for a 'Planet of the Apes'-type strip to cash in on the success of the movies or TV show. In that sense, it was derivative.
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Rip, I believe that the mask was 'processed' by Mother Box to adhere to MM's face like a second skin. Good point about the 'superhero' aspect.
Thanks, both, for your interesting comments.
Hi, I just wanted to tell you that I really enjoy your blog. I was doing research for my own DC fan site (http://dcinthe80s.tumblr.com/) and found you had the most flattering image of Carmine Infantino that I could find. I referenced your mighty fine blog in my post, and plan on mentioning you again in the future.
ReplyDeleteJ
p.s. I'm particularly fond of Kirby's Mr Miracle. As a youth, I always sought his Super Powers Collection action figure but never managed to get him. Well, thankfully there's always ebay.