Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Pasqual Ferry
Publisher: DC Comics
Shilo Norman has ceased to exist, and that’s only the start of a really bad day. As world-famous escape artist Mister Miracle, Shilo has just plunged head first into a simulated black hole in an attempt to prove that he can work his way out of any conceivable danger. It looks like he may have failed--he does, after all, meet a god. Though Mister Miracle may survive a journey to the end of the universe, his sense of reality is forever shaken by visions of evil, and a war in heaven that the saints cannot win.
For his "Seven Soldiers" experiment, writer Grant Morrison has chosen to honor fill-in Mister Miracle Shilo Norman over the more traditional, Kirby-created Scott Free of New Genesis. Yet, the trappings of the story (the New Gods, Shilo’s manager, Granny Goodness and her crew) are all reworkings of the original hero. This leads a reader immediately to two conclusions:
1. Shilo was likely picked in order to establish another African-American hero in the DC Universe, and;
2. This is not at all a bad thing.
The dearth of black heroes in comics is not a new topic, it’s long been acknowledged and bemoaned by fans and professionals alike. But here Morrison has done a bit more than simply add another face to the roster: he has sent this character into the world of mind and mystery, beyond the knowing of common men. Whereas most African American heroes in comics stick to fighting urban crime or reluctantly slugging it out with supervillains, Mister Miracle chats with gods and demons, finds friends turn into monsters, and learns to see every face on the street as a possible encounter with the mystical Dark Side. It’s a great story, full of primal fears and the paranoia of nightmares. Very little would have to change for this to be a tale about Scott Free, but that’s what makes the series notable: most comic book stories that can be told with white characters, are, yet here Shilo gets the nod.
As to the story itself, it’s a party. Mister Miracle is the rare comic in which it is nearly impossible to distinguish the art from the text, as one seamlessly complements the other. One can almost hear the audio track, as well, from the MC at Shilo’s stunt show to the after-hours party and the psychiatrist’s voice. Pasqual Ferry’s illustrations, vibrantly colored by Dave McCaig, show a world full of life and energy… and a higher world of esoteric mysteries. Morrison, for his part, packs in an incredible about of information on the history of the New Gods while making everything seem completely fresh. The Seven Soldiers miniseries have allowed the type of excitement that comes from a reader’s recognizing certain characters or concepts, yet not being able to trust their preconceived notions about them. Mr. Morrison may only tweak Jack Kirby’s Fourth World, or he may turn it on its axis. The character work in Mister Miracle is superb, as well. Little touches like Shilo and his best friend ZZ calling each other by elaborate made-up names gives tremendous insight into their relationship, and an added punch to the inevitable moment when Things Go Wrong.
Serving as the first volley of Seven Soldiers’s second set of miniseries, Mister Miracle could not do a better job of sustaining the momentum established by forerunners Shining Knight, Guardian, Klarion, and Zatanna. DC’s promotional copy for Seven Soldiers proclaims, “a Soldier must die—-will it be Mister Miracle?” As DC’s strongest debut of a new hero in years, it damn well better not.
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