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staplerscissors's review against another edition
4.0
Great art and interesting story. The art is 5 stars and the story is 3.5.
josemclr's review against another edition
5.0
RE: LA CUARTA VEZ QUE LEO ESTE CÓMIC !!! Y cada vez me doy cuenta de más cosas. Scott Free, te quiero mucho.
Es una historia que te rompe y repara el corazón constantemente. Es la tercera vez que la leo y, de verdad, cada vez me siento más identificado de una u otra forma. Después de todo, todos estamos intentado escapar de lo que nos aprisiona. El problema aquí es ¿qué pasaría si escapar significa una traición para ti mismo o/y para los demás? ¿Te haría un cobarde? ¿Estás siendo egoísta al pensar solo en ti y dejar el mundo que conocías a la deriva? O, al contrario, ¿estás siendo lo suficientemente valiente para luchar por un mundo mejor?
Es una historia que te rompe y repara el corazón constantemente. Es la tercera vez que la leo y, de verdad, cada vez me siento más identificado de una u otra forma. Después de todo, todos estamos intentado escapar de lo que nos aprisiona. El problema aquí es ¿qué pasaría si escapar significa una traición para ti mismo o/y para los demás? ¿Te haría un cobarde? ¿Estás siendo egoísta al pensar solo en ti y dejar el mundo que conocías a la deriva? O, al contrario, ¿estás siendo lo suficientemente valiente para luchar por un mundo mejor?
troncocionco's review against another edition
4.0
Allora c'è effettivamente di che parlare di questo Mister Miracle Vol.1 realizzato da Tom King e Mitch Gerads. Quello che più mi preme dirvi a caldo è che Gerads in questo volume è in splendida forma e si gioca molto - ma molto - bene le sue carte. Se le gioca bene perché coinvolge con la 'recitazione' dei personaggi che mette in scena e perché spezza e intrattiene nelle sequenze di azione, specialmente durante le fughe di Scott. Per quanto riguarda la storia siamo solo a metà quindi il giudizio che do si limita a quanto contenuto a questa prima parte ed è fortemente limitato dal non conoscere il prosieguo della storia. Personalmente ritengo che Tom King venga un pochino sopravvalutato e dopo aver letto un paio di cose sue non possono non notare questo filo conduttore che lega le sue opere più recenti. Vedere un Mister Miracle così 'terreno' è qualcosa che allo stesso tempo mi intriga, ed emotivamente è innegabile che sia scritto con molta naturalezza, tale da rendere facile empatizzare col personaggio. Dall'altro lato questa impostazione non mi sembra in armonia con il contesto, un contesto di dei e divinità. Questo però è una considerazione fatta anche in funzione del fatto che l'alone di mistero che circonda Scott non è ancora stato svelato. Insomma in una prima impressione a caldo non si può bocciare questo Mister Miracle, anzi il suo compito lo fa egregiamente perché tiene alta la tensione e l'interesse del lettore. Speriamo il secondo volume sia all'altezza delle aspettative - che ora si fanno di tutt'altro peso, viste le premesse.
okjaaaaa's review
4.0
amanda was right. i need to listen to amanda more. i have learned my lesson, please forgive me amanda.
revisins's review against another edition
5.0
Y'know, sometimes hype pays off. The rare instance where all the hubbub is earned and pays off. At least, for me, it did anyway. As King showed with his Vision serial--Mister Miracle was not going to be your typical superhero funny book. Collaborating with Mitch Gerads--his Sheriff of Babylon partner--again, King perform utter magic.
The story is a collision of the mundane and the cosmic. A story where interminable war battles take place alongside the stressors of raising/nannying a small child and it it coheres into an emotional tale is not easy. But damned if King Gerads pull it off.
Mental trauma is examined through cosmic super-heroics. Child-rearing while mentally ill is handled deftly. Ambiguity is introduced early on and underlined in the late stages of the book that you are just led to wonder--how reliable is any of this reality?
This book is going to stick with me for awhile. It'll warrant a few re-reads...which I don't do often as much any more. This book requires it though.
Dammit--this book is, to quote the baby, fuuuuuging great.
The story is a collision of the mundane and the cosmic. A story where interminable war battles take place alongside the stressors of raising/nannying a small child and it it coheres into an emotional tale is not easy. But damned if King Gerads pull it off.
Mental trauma is examined through cosmic super-heroics. Child-rearing while mentally ill is handled deftly. Ambiguity is introduced early on and underlined in the late stages of the book that you are just led to wonder--how reliable is any of this reality?
This book is going to stick with me for awhile. It'll warrant a few re-reads...which I don't do often as much any more. This book requires it though.
Dammit--this book is, to quote the baby, fuuuuuging great.
booksofbelwood's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ndizz87's review against another edition
4.0
I will say that I consider this graphic novel a ‘cheat’ for my 2022 start. I actually started this way back in November, but just wasn’t feeling it that much and set it down. After quiet contemplation (and the fact that I was nearly 60% through it) I picked it back up because, well, Mister Miracle is. For a good chunk of the graphic novel I wasn’t enthralled. Aside from Big Barda, which was by far my favorite character, I didn’t connect with Mister Miracle as much as I thought I would. I think that’s why, for the most part, I felt disconnected and distant from him. After finishing the graphic novel, I see now why that was, but still felt the coldness and distance of it all. While I struggled to give this the rating that I did, I’m comfortable that I did the right thing.
The plot revolves around Mister Miracle, a New God on Earth that does death-defying escapes in an act that gets him lots of attention. He evades death at every turn. He’s married to Big Barda, another New God from the planet Apokolips. When he was young, his father, Highfather, made a deal with Darkseid to ensure peace. They would exchange sons. So Darkseid’s son, Orion, goes to the Highfather and Mister Miracle (aka Scott Free) goes to Darkseid on Apokolips. There he is given to Granny Goodness and tortured for years in a hole along with Big Barda. That’s where they meet. Eventually, they escape and make a life on Earth. Mister Miracle is not having fun with life at the start of this graphic novel and, to make matters worse, Darkseid is at it again, threatening his home planet of New Genesis. Darkseid now has the anti-life equation and is laying siege on the Highfather and his people. The graphic novel becomes a story about duality, about escape…escaping one’s past, escaping one’s future, it’s about the life we choose to create in spite of all we’ve been through. It’s also about relishing the mundanity of the day-to-day which happily inflicts gods on Earth. That last part was particularly enjoyable to read.
While the structure of this graphic novel isn’t anything to write home about, which is odd considering how highly regarded this is. I believe it won the Eisner Award. I did enjoy the beginnings and endings of each section as it felt as though it were a television show and especially when Mister Miracle seems like he’s losing it and frames appear pixelated or blurry like an old television set. Not much else to say about the structure veering off into any wild territory, but there were some nice nuanced approaches that definitely worked when they were employed.
The characters, I think for me, were the biggest issue, primarily Scott Free himself. I just could not connect with the man. I tried really hard. Intellectually, I liked the character and gimmick his superhero persona took on, but when he was out of his costume I just felt him to be hollow, distant, twice removed. It was as though he was going through the motions. Maybe that is what the story was trying to convey, and if that’s the fact, it definitely worked. I’m one of those sourpusses that likes to connect and empathize with the hero, but I wasn’t able to here. Even when he found out some life-changing stuff happening in his ‘good’ life, I just didn’t know if he was excited or even grateful. He left like he was just going through the motions. Big Barda on the other hand, now she was an amazing character! Now that I think of it, I’m not particularly sure why, but she just worked. Other than maybe Funky Flashman as the go-to nanny, everyone else was just sort of one note and very flat. They either weren’t used much, no backstory given, or didn’t live long enough for me to care.
I think the biggest themes for me throughout this entire graphic novel (surprise, surprise) was the idea of someone attempting to escape the confines of the life they’ve lived, the life they currently live, and the choices that will have ramifications on the life they want. Scott Free is a tortured soul, that’s for sure. He escaped the hellish nightmare of his childhood. He’s thrust into the Highfather position and forced to wage a war against Darkseid while juggling everything back on Earth, and he sees the life he wants to make with Big Barda and his new family. I think this naturally turns into the larger themes of depression and mental health. The man tries to kill himself and then plays it off as though he was just ‘escaping death’. Those frames where things go fuzzy and staticy like a television screen make the reader think twice about what they’re seeing through Scott’s point of view and if it’s even real or all inside his head. It’s also about fatherhood. I really LOVED when he was talking to Barda about how when he looked into Jake’s eyes, he saw Jake staring back at him, through him, to the infinite ancestors that came before Scott and likewise when he saw the infinite descendents that would come after Jake. It was really touching and something I had never thought about that way before.
The last two sections of the novel were interesting to say the least. Scott has a huge decision to make in order to save his people by giving up what is most precious to him, but he doesn’t want to. He wants to escape this decision and the only way to do so is to confront and kill Darkseid. I did like how, even though it felt like Orion was a throwaway character, he came back to fulfill the prophecy that Darkseid would die by his son. Technically, forging the knife out of Orion does just that. The final section, I won’t lie, was very confusing as it is highly ambiguous. Scott is moving through this life (whether real or unreal) and is seeing all those who have died during the graphic novel. They either chastise him that he’s in hell and a new devil will take the place of the old one, or that he’s in heaven because of all the things he has. In a way, Scott is the one to make the choice to not escape what he has and to embrace it which was a poignant ending.
All in all, when I ‘distance’ myself from the graphic novel, it does grow more and more prominent in my mind. Maybe I’m just too much a stickler for wanting to empathize and feel connected with the protagonist. One shouldn’t have to fall in love with the hero in order for it to be a good story. I’m learning that more and more, and the disconnection isn’t just between me and the character, but Scott Free and reality itself. As I’m writing this, Mister Miracle may just escape the 4-star rating yet, because as I continue to think on its themes and structure, it seems to get better the more distance you have from it.
The plot revolves around Mister Miracle, a New God on Earth that does death-defying escapes in an act that gets him lots of attention. He evades death at every turn. He’s married to Big Barda, another New God from the planet Apokolips. When he was young, his father, Highfather, made a deal with Darkseid to ensure peace. They would exchange sons. So Darkseid’s son, Orion, goes to the Highfather and Mister Miracle (aka Scott Free) goes to Darkseid on Apokolips. There he is given to Granny Goodness and tortured for years in a hole along with Big Barda. That’s where they meet. Eventually, they escape and make a life on Earth. Mister Miracle is not having fun with life at the start of this graphic novel and, to make matters worse, Darkseid is at it again, threatening his home planet of New Genesis. Darkseid now has the anti-life equation and is laying siege on the Highfather and his people. The graphic novel becomes a story about duality, about escape…escaping one’s past, escaping one’s future, it’s about the life we choose to create in spite of all we’ve been through. It’s also about relishing the mundanity of the day-to-day which happily inflicts gods on Earth. That last part was particularly enjoyable to read.
While the structure of this graphic novel isn’t anything to write home about, which is odd considering how highly regarded this is. I believe it won the Eisner Award. I did enjoy the beginnings and endings of each section as it felt as though it were a television show and especially when Mister Miracle seems like he’s losing it and frames appear pixelated or blurry like an old television set. Not much else to say about the structure veering off into any wild territory, but there were some nice nuanced approaches that definitely worked when they were employed.
The characters, I think for me, were the biggest issue, primarily Scott Free himself. I just could not connect with the man. I tried really hard. Intellectually, I liked the character and gimmick his superhero persona took on, but when he was out of his costume I just felt him to be hollow, distant, twice removed. It was as though he was going through the motions. Maybe that is what the story was trying to convey, and if that’s the fact, it definitely worked. I’m one of those sourpusses that likes to connect and empathize with the hero, but I wasn’t able to here. Even when he found out some life-changing stuff happening in his ‘good’ life, I just didn’t know if he was excited or even grateful. He left like he was just going through the motions. Big Barda on the other hand, now she was an amazing character! Now that I think of it, I’m not particularly sure why, but she just worked. Other than maybe Funky Flashman as the go-to nanny, everyone else was just sort of one note and very flat. They either weren’t used much, no backstory given, or didn’t live long enough for me to care.
I think the biggest themes for me throughout this entire graphic novel (surprise, surprise) was the idea of someone attempting to escape the confines of the life they’ve lived, the life they currently live, and the choices that will have ramifications on the life they want. Scott Free is a tortured soul, that’s for sure. He escaped the hellish nightmare of his childhood. He’s thrust into the Highfather position and forced to wage a war against Darkseid while juggling everything back on Earth, and he sees the life he wants to make with Big Barda and his new family. I think this naturally turns into the larger themes of depression and mental health. The man tries to kill himself and then plays it off as though he was just ‘escaping death’. Those frames where things go fuzzy and staticy like a television screen make the reader think twice about what they’re seeing through Scott’s point of view and if it’s even real or all inside his head. It’s also about fatherhood. I really LOVED when he was talking to Barda about how when he looked into Jake’s eyes, he saw Jake staring back at him, through him, to the infinite ancestors that came before Scott and likewise when he saw the infinite descendents that would come after Jake. It was really touching and something I had never thought about that way before.
The last two sections of the novel were interesting to say the least. Scott has a huge decision to make in order to save his people by giving up what is most precious to him, but he doesn’t want to. He wants to escape this decision and the only way to do so is to confront and kill Darkseid. I did like how, even though it felt like Orion was a throwaway character, he came back to fulfill the prophecy that Darkseid would die by his son. Technically, forging the knife out of Orion does just that. The final section, I won’t lie, was very confusing as it is highly ambiguous. Scott is moving through this life (whether real or unreal) and is seeing all those who have died during the graphic novel. They either chastise him that he’s in hell and a new devil will take the place of the old one, or that he’s in heaven because of all the things he has. In a way, Scott is the one to make the choice to not escape what he has and to embrace it which was a poignant ending.
All in all, when I ‘distance’ myself from the graphic novel, it does grow more and more prominent in my mind. Maybe I’m just too much a stickler for wanting to empathize and feel connected with the protagonist. One shouldn’t have to fall in love with the hero in order for it to be a good story. I’m learning that more and more, and the disconnection isn’t just between me and the character, but Scott Free and reality itself. As I’m writing this, Mister Miracle may just escape the 4-star rating yet, because as I continue to think on its themes and structure, it seems to get better the more distance you have from it.