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Wayne Markley
by Wayne Markley
Over the last few months, marvel has been reprinting the original (well, the contemporary version) of the traditional Miracleman by Alan Moore, Garry Leach as well as Alan Davis. I did not checked out the very first four as they came out as I checked out them thirty years back in Warrior magazine (where they very first appeared) as well as later in the reprints/new stories that Eclipse Comics did after Warrior folded. At the time, as well as ever because then, they have been one of my preferred superhero comics. So I held off reading the new reprints from marvel because, just like so numerous things from my past, they do not hold up over time. I did not want to destroy my appreciation of the originals stories by reading them as well as finding they are not as fantastic as I remembered.
Miracleman #1
I just recently sat down as well as checked out the very first four problem from marvel with a fantastic offer of hesitation as well as I found I was wrong. I am delighted I did go back as well as re-read them, as they are great. The storytelling is a few of the very best you will ever checked out as well as the art is stunning. When these stories very first came out in 1982, Alan Moore had taken a pleased go lucky superhero as well as moved him 20 years in the future as well as made him dark. Moore fleshed out Marvelman’s story as well as back story to turn one of the brightest, cheeriest characters into one of the darkest, without altering anything from the original origin. At the time this was done, it was groundbreaking. It was long before Watchmen, or any type of of the dark stories that have complied with since. Gary Leach as well as Alan Davis’ art is amazing. It is practically like Brian Bolland to the next level. as well as to Marvel’s credit, they have gone back as well as recolored all the stories (they were originally black as well as white in the pages of Warrior as well as colored by Eclipse) to the point that the colors are practically like a third artist. They add depth as well as style like no other. They really lift the art work to one more level.
Miracleman #2
Before I go on, right here is a bit history of the character of Miracleman, or Marvelman as he was originally called in Warrior. From the late 1930’s to the early 1950s, Superman as well as Captain marvel were a few of the bestselling comics in America. Captain marvel was selling well over a million copies a month. Captain marvel was a extremely upbeat, vibrant hero with fun villains as well as adventures. (Check out Jeff Smith’s Shazam graphic novel, Shazam: The Monster society of Evil for an example of this version of the character or the Shazam Archives or Showcase). DC (then understood as national Comics) sued Fawcett declaring Captain marvel was a rip off of Superman. This situation went on for years. The situation started in 1941 as well as lastly went to court in 1947. Originally, Fawcett won the case. however years later in 1951, national Comics took the situation to the Court of Appeals as well as this time around they won as well as in 1952 Fawcett discontinued the comics. (National Comics/DC would later purchase the rights to Captain marvel in the early 1970s. however by then, marvel had a Captain marvel so DC published the book under the title Shazam.) on the other hand in England in 1954, L. Miller as well as child were publishers of Captain marvel and, like in America, it was a finest seller. When Fawcett lost the lawsuit, Miller did not want to provide up publishing a money maker so they had artist Mick Anglo modify the character as well as made him into Marvelman as well as L. Miller as well as Sons continued on publishing the different Captain marvel titles from 1954 to 1963 (under the name of Marvelman.)
Miracleman #3
In 1982, a new magazine was introduced in England called Warrior. It was large as well as featured a broad range of conventional British strips, including the revived Marvelman by Alan Moore as well as Garry Leach (as well as the Bojefferies Saga, Axel Pressbutton, as well as others.) It is stated that publisher Dez Skin liked exactly how Captain Britain had been revived as well as he wished to do something similar with Marvelman as well as this was the assistance provided to Alan Moore. To update the character with a contemporary sense (this would be the early 1980s) as well as away they went. Warrior did not last all that long. In 1985 in America, Eclipse Comics wished to reprint Marvelman from the pages of Warrior as well as continue where Warrior left off with Marvelman. very first off they had to modification the name of the character from Marvelman to Miracleman. Alan Moore completed his story with problem 16 (although there are stories available that Moore wished to come back to the series based on other stories he had written set in Marvelman’s future).
Miracleman #4
With problem seventeen Neil Gaiman, took over the book from Alan Moore. He continued on it till problem #22. It is Marvel’s present plan to reprint all of the problems of Miracleman, with problem #24 which was done however never published. (#23 was likewise done as well as never published). marvel states that they would like to continue the series with Neil Gaiman down the road with problem #25 on to whatever end Gaiman had planned, as well as Gaiman has stated he is up for this, however as seen with his recent Sandman mini-series (which is running three months late between problem so far), his time is extremely restricted as well as by the time marvel gets to problem twenty five, it will be a number of years down the road so we will have to see.
Miracleman book 1
So we are just in the extremely beginning of Alan Moore’s run of the book as well as it holds up with grace as well as beauty. It is a fantastic checked out as well as the art is beautiful. marvel is going to, of course, gather these single problems into hardcover collections in the near future so if you do not want to checked out the single comics or want to keep these stories for posterity, you can.
Marvelman Classic
I ought to likewise note, in the monthly Miracleman comics, at least in the very first two issues, marvel has likewise reprinted old L. Miller as well as Sons Marvelman stories. It is fascinating to see these original stories from the 1950s compared to what Alan Moore was doing with the character. If you are thinking about these 1950s versions of Marvelman, marvel likewise reprinted a number of the L. Miller as well as Sons stories in a five hardcovers a few years back called Marvelman Classic, young Marvelman Classic, as well as Marvelman Family’s Finest.
As always, whatever I have written right here is my viewpoint as well as does not show the thoughts or opinions of Westfield Comics or their employee’s. I welcome your comments at MFBWAY@Aol.com. I would like to hear what books that have been revived that you believe hold up well, the new Valiant Books? Magnus? Turok? Please let me know.
Thank you.