When I first read The Vision written by Tom King, I saw brilliance and passion that was never done before in comics. When I heard about Mister Miracle, also written by him, I have to read it and this is by far, another great read that only he can come up some thing original, much like the Wes Anderson of comics.

But what I can't say much about this is the synopsis because there is just so much to write about and also, in its own brilliance, deeper than I have ever read. There are layers upon layers in this story that focus on Scott Free and his wife, Big Barda and how all of a sudden, New Genesis is at war. But this is not about the war, it is the question of life and death and how Scott Free handles it. He is not really at his right mind, and his reality seems to be crumbling down or just the other way around? Still, what makes this comic an incredible read is the dialogue, the artwork and the nine-panel creation that was meant to write as it is for. I love how it is not the norm from most written comics but this is one of the best stories I have ever read and one I would recommend to all if you have not read it. Yes, it may get confusing if you do not know most of the characters from the Fourth World but don't let it stop you, you just got to read this.

Scott Free, a.k.a. Mister Miracle, is an escape artist, an alien god, and a superhero, but this story is miles removed from typical superheroics. This is a story about escaping. In places it is about escaping from the trauma of an abusive childhood and escaping from the horrors of war. In other places it is about escaping from the banality of everyday life. Scott and his wife Barda debate renovating their condo while dodging death rays and acid gas. They prepare for the birth of their first child while serving as generals in an interplanetary war in which billions are dying.

The book opens with Scott bleeding on the bathroom floor after a suicide attempt. He tries to play this off as the ultimate escape attempt: escape from death itself, but clearly something is very wrong with Scott. We learn early on that Darkseid has acquired the Anti-Life Equation and may be using it to warp reality and drive Scott insane. As the story progresses it increasingly becomes more about the daily trials of a young married couple who have just become parents for the first time.

In the end Scott may have found his escape not by defeating the forces of cosmic evil but by embracing his role as a husband and father. On the other hand, none of it may be real and he never escaped at all. It is almost a "choose your own adventure" story in that sense. The artwork is as unconventional as the story, with the artist capturing the affect of the rolling distortion of a weak signal on an old broadcast TV to convey the warping of reality or the distorted perception of it as the case may be.

I must admit I have no idea what the current status of the New Gods is in DC comics continuity. A few years back Jim Starlin did a mini-series in which the New Gods were killed off. Then almost immediately afterwards Grant Morrison killed them again in Final Crisis. I know Geoff Johns recently did a Darkseid War series in Justice League, but I have not read it. Mister Miracle does not appear to be part of regular continuity, but it could be. I would not recommend Mister Miracle as anyone's first exposure to the New Gods, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone who has read a lot of comics and is familiar with the tropes of the medium and its various deconstructions.

well that was a ride.  A superhero story that could have been a dream, could have been someone else playing with the main character and could have been truth, or all three.  Disjointed and messy and intriguing.

When Batman and Commissioner Gordon find a body on the 84th floor - with no way in except for the window - they think that will be the most odd thing about the murder.   Y'know, until Swamp Thing shows up suddenly behind them, causes Gordon to make a WTF face.  

Even odder, at least to me, was not only Swamp Thing's revelation about his connection to the dead man, but his whole philosophy.   Does all of Swamp Thing get that weird?   Oh, man, I might just have to read the older series now, because I was laughing out loud at some parts.   (Gordon's reaction to seeing Swamp Thing, and Alfred's reaction to having to clean up after Swamp Thing come to mind.)

Most of what I've read of Swamp Thing has been, embarrassingly, in the new Hellblazer series, and only a couple issues of that.   I say embarrassingly because this is clearly a hole in my comic book reading, a hole that's due to me being a Marvel fanatic.   (Read as I only read Marvel when I started getting into comics.   While I've expanded since then, my teenage-fueled fanaticism along with a slight hiatus, mostly during college, means that I'm still sadly behind.)    I loved King's take on Swamp Thing.   It felt different than Hellblazer's take, although not conflicting with that take.   Different circumstances, different writers, and different aspects of the same character.   Hellblazer didn't feel quite as philosophical and quite frankly bizarre to me, although there was an aspect of oddness that was just taken for granted: it was weird, the characters had lived with that fact for a while, and just accepted it.   But then again, Constantine would.   Batman, who deals with science and detective work, questions this a little more, pokes at it, and I think this is where the completely and utter weirdness comes from.   When put up against a character who thinks purely logically, instead of metaphysically, it seems even more odd due to the contrast.   While people in Hellblazer questioned Swamp Thing on his history with Abby, and why he couldn't trust her, they simply accepted rather than trying to force his, or her, story into a little box.   (Batman doesn't really poke as much as he could, but even his inability to completely understand or accept some of the things Swamp Thing says creates a contrast.)   Or maybe I'm reading this wrong, because, y'know, I don't really read much Swamp Thing - or I haven't in the past.  I plan on doing so in the future. 

Something about the hint of humor, and the whole bizarreness of Swamp Thing wandering around Gotham just struck me.   Not as anything in particular, it just made this an incredible read for me.   The balance of those two elements, the ending in which Batman futilely tries to hold Swamp Thing accountable, the need he has to believe in what Swamp Thing says without truly having the faith that others in this universe do?   It all made an impression. This has a lot more than I expected, not because I haven't enjoyed this run of Batman.   And certainly not because I didn't know King could handle this.   (I do.   I reread the run of Vision all the time, and I keep finding new things.   Vision is what sold me on King, and made me want to read Batman: I was in it for the writer.)   It's more that while Batman has been saying a lot of things, it hasn't quite hit the balance this issue has.   While I've loved King's Batman so far, I'm finding this issue just is a high point for me as a reader.)

A slight aside then back to this issue: I don't always mention the art, by the way, and I'm trying to rectify that.   While I think it's important that the art and writing work together, I follow writers more than artists.   (That is, I will start buying a series for a writer, and it's rarer for me to do that for an artist.)   I think this tendency has caused me to not mention the art, or not saying much about it, but I've recently read a tweet by a comic book writer asking us reviewers not to  completely bypass the artist.   Fair enough!   If he was doing it on his own behalf, I'd side eye it.   But I actually think he has a good point: I, in particular, don't really give enough shout out to the artists.   (And it's not King, and I'm not saying who it is just in case he gets harassed for this.)   It wasn't punitive, it wasn't angry, it was just asking us to remember the artists since I'm apparently not the only reviewer who does this.   And I'm only taking the advice because I feel like I'm shorting the artists, and I don't want to do this.  

I've also, quite frankly, been afraid that by saying that some art is more typical of the comic book style, I'll offend someone.   While there is a general style - penciled, inked, then colored - there are some artists who paint their work or who used multi-media, and there is some purely digital art out there.   None of which is a better style than any other, it's merely different.   The real test is the artist's ability.   And Gerard does an excellent job, the more so the more I think about it.   Much of the humor is not merely in the writing, but in the way that Gerard presents the faces.   This issue would be sorely lacking without those small touches.  Not only that, the intro scene is grittier than the rest of the issue, which matches the scene perfectly.  (Which is helped by the coloring; as the issue gets relatively lighter, so do the actual colors.)

Just lovely all together.

Definitely the darkest book in this series. Very violent and bloody but also with a sense of futility. The Punisher has to ask himself what he's doing and why, and he's placed in the situation of being seen as Public Enemy Number One, when he's just doing what he can to protect society from violent criminals who want to kill and destroy others. The conclusion is a segway that feels odd and not strictly harmonious with the overall story arc of this series. The ending makes me question if this is truly the end for the Punisher. Of course, I'll keep reading these if they make more.