Featured Review: Mister Miracle: The Source of Freedom #1

Writer: Brandon Easton

Artist: Fico Ossio

Colors: Rico Renzi

Letters: Rob Leigh

Cover: Yanick Paquette

 

Is Mister Miracle considered a bankable character now? It has been three years since the Tom King/Mitch Gerads miniseries so one could argue it has been long enough that a character of this renown should receive another story focused on them. Strangely, a different Mister Miracle is the star of this series. This decision is indicative of those made throughout the issue that provide an intriguing but ultimately disappointing debut for Mister Miracle: The Source of Freedom.

This issue is bland. That is not to say it is bad, just that there is not much reason to continue reading the series.

The opening is somewhat novel as Shiloh Norman performs an escape falling from low orbit. From there, the issue dives into Norman’s daily life. He has meetings with his agent, fights crime, and goes on a talk show. It is all quite standard; even the 'Miracle stole his act’ bit feels rote and uninteresting.

Shiloh does get a date with a hot firefighter at least. Unfortunately for him, she quickly diagnoses the issue’s most glaring flaw: Shiloh is not presented as an interesting character. He has no personality, no sense of intrigue about him. He largely exists as a mouthpiece for the themes of the story which, while interesting, do not coalesce in this issue.

Identity and legacy appear to be the primary themes of this story. The protagonist’s chief concern is whether he should unmask himself, something Norman is reluctant to do as he finds comfort in the anonymity the mask provides. He does not believe the world would take kindly to their favorite escape artist being revealed to be a Black man. This becomes even more complicated when someone claiming to be the child of Shilo’s predecessor Scott Free and his wife Barda arrives on the final page. They want their family’s legacy back.

Of course, Mister Miracle is not strictly Free’s legacy. His mentor Thaddeus Brown was the first to don the costume and Brown also served as Shilo mentor and father figure. This theoretically will lead to a complex exploration of what Mister Miracle means in future issues.

Those themes are almost enough to keep me around. Almost. If the art were better, I would be. Regrettably, Ossio’s work is simply not up to snuff here. It is constantly off model, to the point characters often appear to be different people from panel to panel. Maybe this issue was rushed. Maybe it is simply the case of a promising artist—and make no mistake, there is plenty of promise here—needing a bit more experience to reach their potential. Either way, it is indicative what is ultimately a boring comic book with some interesting ideas.