Miracleman Revisited

Excellent cover by Alan Davis.

I must admit that when I reviewed Marvel's relaunch of Miracleman No.1 the other week I wasn't intending to continue buying the series. After all, I'd read it back in the 1980s and I have the run in Warrior, but curiosity got the better of me and I've just bought Miracleman No.2 (and a copy of the uncensored version of No.1 as I'd only previously bought the digital edition). 

As I've read it before, I already know how the story turns out, but what makes this reprint series appealing to me are the back up features. As with issue 1 we once again get a peek at seeing scans taken directly from Garry Leach's original art. Personally I find this sort of stuff fascinating to see where bits were whited out or what margin notes were added and suchlike. It's as close as you can get to owning the actual art without paying the fortune these pages generate now.

The other back up features include significant reprints of the 1950s Marvelman strips. In issue 2 we get the origin of Marvelman and the first appearance of Kid Marvelman - which tie in nicely with the 1980s strips at the front of the comic. 

I know that some comic fans have complained about the back-ups because they just want cover to cover 1980s strips. Well, to me being a comic fan has always meant that you're interested in the history and background of the strips not just the story content. As long as Miracleman continues to feature such material I'll keep buying it. 

As mentioned on this blog before, there are two editions available; a censored version and a 'Parential Advisory' uncensored one. So Liz Moran once again has purple knickers added to her bum which is bare in the uncensored version, and a subtle bare nipple is deleted. The big question of course is how are Marvel going to handle the graphic birth scene in an upcoming issue? When Eclipse published it, they ran it uncensored. Will Marvel's owners, Disney, allow the same freedom? Surely, comic readers who rarely bat an eye at depictions of gore and murder in comic books will be able to handle seeing illustrations of a birth scene? Could any adult reader in 2014 seriously object to such a scene in a comic aimed at adults? How prudish would they have to be? Time will tell. 

Miracleman Nos.1 and 2 are available now from comics speciality shops or online comics dealers.