365 Days of Defiance, Day 309: Let's Perform Miracles

from The Black Racer and Shilo Norman Special one-shot (October 2017), script by Reginald Hudlin, pencils by Denys Cowan and Ryan Benjamin, inks by Bill Sienkiewicz and Richard Friend, colors by Jeromy Cox, letters by Janice Chiang

365 Days of Defiance, Day 121: I'm Not Dead Yet

Panels from Seven Soldiers #1 (December 2006), script by Grant Morrison, pencils and inks by J.H. Williams III, colors by Dave Stewart, letters by Todd Klein

365 Days of Defiance, Day 84: Escape from the Planet of the Ape-kolips

Darkseid is...being a complete jerk towards Scott Free. That's Mister Miracle if you're nasty.


Panels from Mister Miracle (1971 series) #9 (July-August 1972), script and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks and letters by Mike Royer
You guys know I love Kirby. One of the many things I love about his work (along with the power, the wonder, the craziness, the boldness, and the quotation marks) is his themes of resistance against power and evil. Think of Kirby's Thing (too stubborn to lay down and take a beating) or Thor (he says thee NAY!) and their bombastic displays of defiance and resistance against the unbeatable foe. In Scott Free Kirby combines the resistance with escape in the saga of the ultimate escape artist: there is no trap, no disaster, no threat that Scott cannot get out of, defying nature, physics, and story logic. He's not running away: he'll be back.




For my money, this is Kirby's version of one of my favorite scenes from the movies: Artoo Detoo finally kicking the Millennium Falcon into hyperdrive just as the Empire is ready to capture the rebels...and the grim visage of Vader on the bridge as they do so.



Panels from Star Wars (1977 series) #44 (February 1981), script by Archie Goodwin, pencils and inks by Al Williamson and Carlos Garzon, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Rick Veitch
Like Luke Skywalker, it's not the end of Scott's story. The fight is just beginning.

365 Days of Defiance, Day 60: So shines an act of kindness in a weary world

Grant Morrison, dastard that he is, has put Shiloh Norman, the astonishing Mister Miracle, smack into the creamy center nougat of hopelessness: the living hell of Darkseid's long-sought-after Anti-Life Equation. It is fear, anger, failure. It is everything that makes up despair (or, as it's pronounced in the Marvel Universe, D'Spayre.) Also, it's raining. Mister Miracle doesn't have a chance.


Panels from Seven Soliders: Mister Miracle #3 (March 2006), script by Grant Morrison, pencils and inks by Freddie E. Williams II, colors by Dave McCaig, letters by Phil Balsman
Although, take note: this scene occurs in number three into a four issue miniseries. Even Grant Morrison, five-dimension imp that he is, is not immune from the beating rhythm of a story arc. Nmely: it's always darkest before the dawn, or, as it's pronounced in the DC Universe, an ass-whuppin'.


But at the eleventh hour (or, as we pronounce it, page 21 of a 22 page story) comes a tiny sliver of hope. You can also pronounce it "humanity."


Go get 'em, Shilo.

365 Days of Defiance, Day 3: Even his name says escape from tyranny

Panels from Mister Miracle #2 (May-June 1971), script and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Vince Colletta, letters by John Costanza
Please rest assured: the works of Jack Kirby will appear a lot in this feature.

Today in Comics History, February 12, 1980: Exploding driver's license seriously injuresMister Miracle

from Justice League (2011 series) #41 (DC, August 2015), script by Geoff Johns, pencils and inks by Jason Fabok, colors by Brad Anderson, letters by Rob Leigh

365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 108: Granny Goodness's "Bomb-Clock"

Mister Miracle has been captured by Granny Goodness and her Grotesque Goons! And they're going to attach him to the Bomb-Clock!


Panel from Mister Miracle (1971 series) #18 (February-March 1974), script and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks and letters by Mike Royer
Eh, a Bomb-Clock. It's a bomb with a clock on it, I bet. Nothing to get too excited about...Mister Miracle is, of course, the world's greatest escape artist, so I'm sure he can escape from that in a mere matter of seconds and then HOTCHY MOTCHY

365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 53: Apokoliptian Ground Probe

And now, a little bit of personal time for Scott Free and Big Barda.


Panels from Mister Miracle (1971 series) #18 (February-March 1974), script and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks and letters by Mike Royer
WHOA MAMA WOCKA-CHA-WOCKA-CA-WOCKA

That is, until some pesky groundhog interrupts. No, wait, it's not Comics Oughta Be Fun!'s beloved furry rodent favorite Grover Groundhog, but the forces of baddie-planet Apokolips, searching underground for Mister M. and Big B. by using a frankly fantastic Ground Probe! Ah, if only Bill Murray had had one of these in Caddyshack.


Luckily Mister Miracle has one more trick up his sleeve: the equivalent of shining a flashlight in the eyes of somebody wearing night-vision goggles, or sprinkling Tabasco sauce on Matt Murdock's tongue. SENSORY OVERLOAD AHOY!


Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha! That trick never gets old! You won't believe how many times Blue Beetle and Booster Gold fell for this when they were in the JLI with Mister Miracle.

365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 39: The Giant Nutcracker

Two-page spread from Mister Miracle (1971 series) #15 (September 1973); script and pencils by Jack Kirby; inks and letters by Mike Royer
(Click picture to filbert-size)
Because...


...sometimes you feel like a nut!


Sometimes you don't!

365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 26: Virman Vundabar's Murder Machine

Yesterday we said "hello" to The Murder Machine! (Hi, Murder Machine!) It's a name so nice Jack used it twice! You've seen the Psycho-Man's Murder Machine, now meet Doctor Virman Vundabar's Murder Machine!


cover of Mister Miracle #5 (DC, November 1971), pencils by Jack Kirby, inks and letters by Mike Royer
Holy cow. That's one murdery machine.

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 312: Apokolipsan Gothic

Another one of my most favoritist DC House Ads of all time!:


House ad for (and printed in!) Mister Miracle (1989 series) #1 (January 1989);
Ad art: pencils and inks by Ian Gibson

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 238: Jack Kirby DC House Ad Week, Day 2: Ho, ho, ho / It's magic, you know

I mentioned The Magic of Kirby yesterday, and whoo boy, I weren't kiddin'! And neither was DC!:


House ad for The Forever People #1; The New Gods #1 (both February-March 1971),
and Mister Miracle #1 (April 1971) printed in Jimmy Olsen #134 (December 1970)
Comic cover art: Forever People and The New Gods: pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Frank Giacoia (Forever People and New Gods) and Vince Colletta (Mister Miracle), letters by Gaspar Saladino, [Superman face redrawn by ???] Gaspar Saladino
Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 174: But that trick never works

House ad for Mister Miracle (1971 series) #19 (September 1977); printed in Batman #291 (September 1977)
Ad art by Marshall Rogers

On hiatus since March 1974's Jack Kirby-written and drawn issue #18, Mister Miracle returned with issue #19 in September 1977. It lasted 7 more issues and was cancelled a year later.

Today in Comics History, August 28: Happy birthday, Jack Kirby: The King of Comics! (2012)

KIRBY! Jack Kirby, that is...not that little bubble guy who floats around in video games. We all know that, in mythical pantheons, Kirby, alongside Clapton, is God...


Panels from Fantastic Four #511 (May 2004), script by Mark Waid, pencils by Mike Wieringo, inks by Karl Kesel, colors by Paul Mounts, letters by Randy Gentile

...but did you know that Kirby exists simultaneously in all universes? No? Well, here's one instance of Cross-Dimension Kirby from Earth-B (for Bongo), sub-dimension-RM: the world of Bart Simpson's favorite comic book hero, Radioactive Man!



Pages from Radioactive Man #197/#9 (November 2004), script and layouts by Batton Lash, pencils by Dan DeCarlo, inks by Mike Royer, colors by Chris Ungar and Kane, letters by Karen Bates

So in celebration of the King's 95th birthday, let's take a look at what you can find in just one, one of his comic books: Mister Miracle #6! It all starts out with a bang—literally—and the greatest escape stunt of them all! Why, this book has more action in the first three pages than most modern comic books have an in entire six-issue arc! Yes, I'm lookin' at you, Justice League.




Panels from Mister Miracle v.1 #6 (February 1972), script and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks and letters by Mike Royer

Well else does this comic feature? Why, it's got the va-va-va-voomy Big Barda. Taking a Big Bath! With Big Bubbles! And, probably, a big rubber ducky.




And it's got this superbaddy—the butt-ugly not-a-supermodel Mad Harriet! (One-half of the team completed by Dirty Lariat!)




It's got a hard-hitting, head-kicking, stomach-punting, gut-skoking foot-womping action-thribbled fight sequence!



What, one bad guy isn't enough for you? Here, have four...they're cheap!



And just for good measure, it's got a sarcastic satire of Jack's old bosses!





It ends on a solemn vow for even more action and adventure in the following ish!



Now how much would you pay? Why, this kirbucopia of, eloquence, energy, and elephants excitement will run you... a mere two bits!



In conclusion, Kirby.

What? You want one more example of how all-powerful the King is? Okay, you asked fer it...

So powerful he can pull characters right out of the comic book and into his own reality. Of all other comic book creators, only Grant Morrison has also been able to do this, and he did it with the help of pharmaceuticals.




Panels from "Satan Wears a Swastika*" in Boy Commandos #1 (Winter 1942), script and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe SImon, letters by Howard Ferguson

So...please join me in declaring: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KING KIRBY!

Kirby, won't you?


*GREATEST STORY TITLE IN THE WORLD.