Old Timer Mike here with some important blogging for you.
Yes, it’s another Post of Miscellany for you to enjoy, for varying values of “enjoy.”
PART THE FIRST: Just to follow up on my 2024 Free Comic Book Day post-mortem, there was some concern that no children were spotted in my photos of the store in the midst of Free Comics action.
Well, let me assure you that there were plenty of children passing through the shop to get their free comics, and many, with the assistance of the parents and/or guardians, took advantage of the storewide sales. Some kids showed up in costume (one as the Miles Morales version of Spider-Man, anoother as the Kamala Khan Ms. Marvel). A girls softball team showed up, in uniform. Plenty of children thanking me for their comics, A whole bunch of smiling faces.
As was pointed out in my comments, probably not a cool thing to take pics of kids and post ’em to my site without permission. So you’ll just have to take my word that they were there. I promise.
PART THE SECOND: Miracleman talk is back in the news, what with the release of Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham’s The Silver Age in trade paperback form this week. This article on The Beat is about the lack of excitement over the completion of this long-interrupted story. Surprisingly, it includes a link to my own writings on the very same topic from back in January. I’m so used to shouting into the void here, since Linking to Blogs is a thing that folks don’t do much of that anymore, but it is nice to be acknowledged.
Anyway, on Bluesky Mr. Gaiman his own self linked to a New York Times article ballyhooing the release of the book, saying
“It’s interesting seeing the comics press going ‘Why isn’t there more talk of Miracleman: The Silver Age?’ Meanwhile, we get the kind of review that those of us who made comics in the dawn times dreamed of as a kind of grail.”
Now, look, I’ve done my part, which y’all can see right here in this category link, but…I think I’m correct in reading this more as “isn’t it ironic that one world ignores the book, meanwhile this other world is paying attention,” instead of “the comics press are a bunch of dummies, of course people are talking about it.”
The New York Times article doesn’t really counter the idea that Miracleman is mostly ignored within the comics world, and that actual sales aren’t want you’d think they should be, if “you” is me, a guy who waited the decades for Miracleman to start up again. I don’t have to go into again, see what I said at my self-link above, but the passing decades, the delays, the botched presentation by Marvel, all got in the way of a new audience discovering a lost unfinished classic in the process of being completed. Which is a shame. It honestly is very good. Even the initial kinda clunky chapters by Alan Moore have a style and power few comics can match today.
I said this a couple times in response to various discussions on Bluesky, but I feel like maybe the Moore/Gaiman/Buckingham/etc. era of Miracleman won’t properly get its due until it’s all done and collected into trades. At that point it can be sold as a finished masterpiece…assuming Marvel can keep the books in print.
PART THE SECOND AND A HALF: Just for some perspective: In 1985 I was sixteen, still in high school, when I bought the first issue of Eclipse’s Miracleman #1 new off the stands. I am now 55, waiting to eventually place orders for my store for the final chapters of the story begun back then.
PART THE THIRD: So anyway, here’s a picture of Superman from the movie coming out next year:
I mean, it’s fine. The top part looks a little too much like he’s wearing a sweater. I suppose we’ll have to see it in action (either live or CGI) to give it a full judgement. But lookin’ at that picture…c’mon, Supes, buddy, speed it up a bit, there’s something you need to attend to going on outside your window there.
The debate is raging on as to whether this is a good costume or not, whether there’s too much texture on there or if they should’ve gone for a Christopher Reeve-style smooth ‘n’ skintight spandex. I think the latter look, more accurately reflecting appearances in the comics, may be out of favor with studios, but given how superhero movies have been doing lately, what have they got to lose. However, having Wolverine in his classic comic togs for the Deadpool/Wolverine flick, a film that has a very good chance of getting that billion-dollar box office that’s been eluding Marvel for a while, may change some costuming trends.
At the very least I would have liked a brighter, maybe more optimistic look, but again, it’s just one promo photo. All depends on what they do with it. And it’s James Gunn, who actually made people care about Guardians of the Galaxy, so I’m still giving him the benefit of a doubt. I mean, c’mon, Metamorpho, the Fab Freak of 1,000 and 1 Changes, is gonna be it, I’ve gotta see that.
The Superman suit really owes a lot to the Jim lee Nu52 design, which was so bad that readers pretty much universally rejected it from the start, and DC kept getting tweaked or pushed aside for years until they finally put Superman in the right suit again. Which makes me wonder why Gunn decided to use the Nu52 suit as a starting point.
The spandex suit would bring up the danger of the armpit sweat stain from Superman II.
Yeah, the lighting in that picture does not do the suit any favors. I’m hoping it’ll look lighter in actual shots. (And I don’t like the textures either–Superman doesn’t need armored anything.)
Re: Miracleman, yeah, I thought Neil’s skeet was kinda a little on the snitty side. I’m glad it’s gotten a write-up in the Times, but that has nothing to do with what you and Heidi were saying.
I agree with Chris G. Seeing Superman with a Jim Lee-derived suit is not great–but thankfully it doesn’t have the pipping. Also, the “S” symbol does not look aesthetically pleasing. Oh well, at least they got Supes’ hair right.
Well I’ll be. I was also 16 when Miracleman first came out, and — yup, the math works — I’m 55 now. Doesn’t seem possible…
Regarding Marvel keeping a (hopefully eventual) complete Miracleman collection in print: Is there much of anything resembling an evergreen title that Marvel has kept continuously available, on the order of Watchmen or Dark Knight Returns or Sandman? Marvels (Buskiek & Ross) may come the closest, but I think even that has lapsed OOP a few times over the years…
I love that Superman shot, suit and all. I’m really hoping that’s Solaris in the background.
And no one says that this is the suit that Superman wears during the entire movie. If you don’t like it, there’s a chance that it will get replaced with a more classic model at some point. That would be a good symbol for the transition from Snyder to Gunn, now that I think about it.
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Count me in as someone who will buy the entire run of Miracleman in floppies to complete my collection. I buy very few comics in any form at this point, but MM is one of the few unfinished series from my teen years that might still be completed, so I’ve got to see it through.
Gaiman doth protest too much, methinks — but then again, I’ve always had very mixed feelings about Gaiman, something I guess is to be expected when you happen to have read Clive Barker in abundance before ever encountering Gaiman.
(Now, *Barker* writing Marvelman, *that* I’d buy — it would certainly make the scene where MM hits on YM more…interesting.)
I’m 49, and I’ve never picked up any Miracleman. The heyday period was always referred to by folks just older than myself, and when I got to comics, it just wasn’t around. We’ve had many Miracleman things appear over the past decade or so, often quite expensive for a first glance, so I have no idea what any of it is, and, honestly, it’s been mostly people saying “it was really great 30-odd years ago” which is a tough sell. So do I think the folks who got into comics via the X-Men cartoon and now write for comics sites are even aware of Miracleman? Probably not. So I think you’re right: if Marvel collects the thing in affordable trades, and with a clear reading order, I’d probably at least give it a shot. But that isn’t really how its felt since they grabbed the rights.
Also, I don’t mind the shot of Superman in his chair. Felt very “Peace on Earth” and put the man in the Superman. Dude puts his boots on one foot at a time, but happens to be a flying, charming, fusion reactor.
“And then….well, seven issues came out over a two year period and I guess the momentum was lost.”
So inept. Who are you trying to be, Marvel, Solson?
That huge time lag mage a LOT of people not ccare anymore, I think. And polybagged issues, and not just putting the old stuff in a TPB like they should have. It’s already been published in a serialized format! Time for the TPB.
“I mean, it’s fine.”
Yes… for cosplay.
BUT TO BE FAIR they’re not gonna get interest in a Superman movie from me, no matter what they do. It’s impossible without Christopher Reeve. He was literal PERFECT CASTING as both Supes & Clark. You can’t compete with that.
“Deadpool/Wolverine”
Now, THIS I wanna see!
The high military collar never works for Superman. The low, broad, open neckline is an important part of his look — it reflects the openness and the optimism of his character, just like the lack of a mask does.
The Man of Steel costume also owed a lot to the New 52 suit, but even Snyder recognized that if you don’t have that open neckline, it just doesn’t look like Superman.
I totally agree with Athelind Llewellyn Long.
And on the botched presentation of Miracleman front… got the Silver Age TPB today and yes, the reprints aren’t in it. They were not in any way an integral part of the story. They were a cover for lateness. Sure, the original run had some crappy backups, but when you’ve bought this as your prestige big-name high-end comics project, that’s unforgivable.