Comic Book Review: Mister Miracle #9

Mister Miracle #9

DC Comics

Writer: Tom King

Artist: Mitch Gerads

Mister Miracle has often been synonymous with grandiose. After all, the original series by Kirby was written much like Kirby’s other works, and therefore would hold an over the top dialect. However, while Tom King often writes his dialogue in a poetic way, Mister Miracle often holds moments which go against his own style, as demonstrated in this page, yet it manages to be balanced.

The story is on par with the rest of this series and superior to his other mini-series and thus gets a high mark, yet in this issue, it is predictable. There is a sense of dread throughout this comic, and while this may be because I have discussed with others how the story might go, it felt predictable, and I was right. Now, that is not to say that it was badly done as the reactions seemed human. As ever, the dialogue and story are very deep in certain areas. For example, there are moments when the dialogue is used to explore the differences between Apokolips and New Genesis. In addition to this, I have heard, and therefore researched, that there is a parallel between this comic and the biblical story of Abraham, and for this Tom King should be commended. In addition, I feel like King is setting up the decision that will be taken down next issue, as he explores the state of the New Genesis army in one page, which once again could be done with more subtlety, yet it works.

Onto the characters. King is renowned for writing about depression, suicide, and similar themes. So having a page such as this (shown below) comes as no surprise, yet it still holds emotional value. In fact, this page is supported by the page that comes after it, where they demonstrate their anger towards Darkseid and Apokolips for twisting them in such a way that it holds up the previous page on a pedestal. Each character seems normal and fits in, all the while having their own quirks, and characters such as Lightray hold true to their characterization previously established. Yet many are not explored thoroughly enough in the writing, even if characters such as Kalibak are explored more through the art than through the writing, which I find a shame.

The art, by Mitch Gerads, is wonderful on its own and is supplemented by the use of stark and contrasting colors. One may also see that whenever the art is based around Scott and Barda, the colors are far more vibrant, yet when the panel is centered around a character on the side of Apokolips, flatter colors are used. I found this use of color particularly intriguing and found that it served the comic well. However, the two highlights for the art are demonstrated in the page below, where the art is used to convey emotion, and for Darkseid, who seems intimidating in a way that not many artists can do.