King said to CBR: ""Mister Miracle is about him being stuck in this horrible reality and can he get out of it or not?" the writer answered. "We can't get out. We have to find our way to live with it and find a way to make it better." That suggests to me that he actually is in reality, but it's kinda broken.
you're close, the major clue is in the comic distortion effects and duct tape: Mister Miracle is in reality, he is alive, but since the whole world was a piece of shit, he's trying to escape from it. This is confirmed when he sees Metron and the whole DC Universe: he's in-between realities and different Earths. And when one turns way too dark for him, he escapes to another and keeps jumping one from another, hence losing some of his former self each time he does so.
100% I feel like "He's dead and it's a dream" is too much of an easy, cliched explanation. I feel like it's Scott's fucked-up, broken view of the real world around him and the fact that he's disassociating a lot of the time
@@fdslk1 i had always interpreted that static (and especially the hallucinations in issue 12) as Scott's trauma tainting otherwise happy/neutral moments, but I like this interpretation so much better
Well i just finished it but i didn't like tho , the chem between barda and miracle was nice but it was such let down because it explain the powers or the sbilities of mister miracle
When I was younger I was such a fan of Orion. Seemed like such a badass. Never fearing Darkseid. But as I grow up, Mister Miracle is a much more interesting/complex character.
I respectfully disagree. Scott Free is a complex character, and he definitely stand out in the crowd as far as superheroes go; but I think Orion is just as layered and complex a character as Mister Miracle, but just hasn’t had the opportunity to get the same character deep dive as MM. Orion is a monster, who descended from the devil, but raised by god. He has the same beastly urges as Kalibak, his wicked brother, but is destructive actions are “justified” by his alignment with New Genesis. What’s twisted is he’s too aggressive to live in a world of peace, so instead of pushing for a diplomatic or pacifistic resolution to the war of gods, he just waits like a rabid dog for somebody to slip up. That’s why in every time a writer tries to write an ending to the New Gods story, Orion always dies, because there’s just no way Orion can have a life after the war of the New Gods; just like his bio bro, Kalibak, and his bio Daddy, Darkseid
@figs3 correction: So I guess in the HUNGER DOGS book, Jack Kirby “ends” the series with Orion surviving and hooking up with a lady who’s name escapes me. But from what I understand, that was not the way Kirby intended to end the series. I think he was planning for the war to end with the death of the New Gods, and the beginning of the new wave of gods. However, DC didn’t want Jack Kirby to kill off the characters he had just created for them.
@@coopersheridan73 I guess it was less of a Orion is not as complex character, more of a me not appreciating Scott enough. I still like Orion but like you said after Darkseid, there's not a lot for him to do. But Scott has Barda, getting over trauma. There's just a lot to MM as a whole that I'm beginning to notice and appreciate a lot more.
I started this series when I was struggling with depression trapped in a prison of my own making like Mr Miracle, Scott Free helped me through it, I finally read the ending today free of the prison in my own mind just like the immortal the amazing mr miracle
This read..man, it saved my marriage. I still feel that hopeless sadness every once and a while and I feel it..darkseid is...and you know what this beautiful dark tale has taught is that, so is my wife, so is my son. So am I. ❤️
Matt Draper describes Mister Miracle: "Jesus meets Flash Gordon". Dear lord am I glad I found you channel, and that you covered this book right after I finished reading it.
Thank you. I can't find anyone else who doesn't rave about his Batman. I don't like it and I didn't like Scott Snyder's, and everyone else seems over the moon about them. Grant Morrison did a lot longer and weirder runs, but at no point did I think "This doesn't seem like Batman," or "Batman wouldn't do that" the way I do with King.
Scott Millsap Really? I usually see people being 50/50 with King’s run, while the majority like Snyder’s run and most of people like Morrison’s run although it’s not as universally liked.
@@scottmillsap2376 I'm mostly with you on King, but Scott Snyder's run was amazing. Especially the first arc about the Court of Owls. Not the biggest fan of how it all kinda stopped in the middle to do Zero Year, tho.
So essentially, the point is not if Scott is in heaven, or hell, or in Darkseids reality, it’s that it doesn’t matter, and Scott has made the most of whatever he has. It’s a lesson we should all learn I suppose
i'm struggling with depression right now, for years it was like, locked up in a darkseid of mind (pun intended) and it came up recently by many reasons to say hello the first six issues of mister miracle were something that i could relate cause i had been in that situation i saw the character on, laying in the bathroom with blood in my hands and a vague feeling that it was ok there were several moments like that in which i could relate with Scott Free's feeling and, for one moment, i was looking at myself (?) at the end of the first issue where he and barba prepare to go on and face the war at New Genesis/Apokolips and he starts to TRY to say what he feels about that, i could relate to that, the feeling that something is not right and i just act normal to things that are dangerous even to think about (like Scott talking about his suicide attempt at the interview) it's really hard to come up and say something (even vague as "something is not right") because this feeling of non-existent hope is able to poison even the strongest minds in the fourth issue, Orion starts to judge miracle and, in certain point, he completely explodes and punch orion's face, screaming for nothing and with a vague look in his eyes, until barba comes up to hug him and give a little, even the slightest comfort for him that was another moment i saw myself in, like many others the first six issues of mister miracle are based on the depressive feeling in the character, this loss of hope i mentioned and the way he just don't care about all the pain he caused to himself (or not KNOWING he caused pain, i'd say, but then, after that, the series take it to another level, showing what scott has to focus (the war, barda, their son) and starts to breath and see things in another way, slowly until the last issue where all the traumas and ghosts from his past start showing up to say "hey, i know you're doing well, but remember, you are dead inside" (btw, another moment i could relate), but then, at the end, highfather comes up in this ghost-past-thing to say "nothing is real, you are already lost" and the only valid answer is: scott punches it in the face all that pain and memories and anxiety doesn't define who Scott Free really is, they molded his personality and his life, but they don't define him, they are only the sorrows and regrets that he should understand, learn and get over it at last, that was the moment where i saw myself totally in the comic, this may sound really boring and stupid (attention whore, maybe) but the series had a really great way of showing depression and anxiety in someone's life, reading it helped me a lot by showing that in not the only one and the feelings that a get is not exclusive, many people understand it that is way i try to think that, in the end, Scott was Free (another pun intended, sorry) from his depression and all the shackles it could put himself in, because, again, they do not define who you are
Thank you for sharing! I’ve gone through similar hurdles in life and I definitely relate to what you’re saying and what this comic is portraying. I hope that you are doing well and finding the support you deserve. It can be incredibly difficult to open up and talk about these feelings, but finding connection with someone in a healthy manner can make such a huge difference.
This comic is truly king’s magnum opus, one of the best superhero comics ever written. King writes this story about all of these themes that we as humans have to struggle with and overcome and make it hit. While also writing about these ridiculous characters of the new gods. King is a giant author of comics
My band and I actually wrote a song that's completely and utterly inspired by this series. Mister Miracle by Neanderthal Opera. We put in the glitches and distortion, too, etc.. Anyway, absolutely loved and related to this series and got a Mister Miracle tattoo because of it. Saw King at a con last year and he loved it lol. Keep up the great work, Matt
The New Gods has always been really unappealing to me. Taking Aja & Fraction’s “Hawkeye” approach to this is an excellent way to handle it and I look forward to reading this. Thanks for showing me another great series!
I am sorry but as someone who has actually seen the new gida in action I can tell you that Tom's interpretation is just disrespectful and mean spirited. Sorry but I do not like his version of Lightray
This story needs to be on James Gunn's radar for his DCU. It's a beautiful story that I think thematically works really well with a lot of Gunn's work. And with slight changes would be a great introduction to to the New Genesis/ Apokalypse characters/war. Hell Scott's life on Earth could easily be the thing that gets Darkseid's attention on Earth.
I've seen the commentaries from others TH-camrs who are well known comic reviewers, which I can't mention because they are quite controversial figures and the last thing I want is cause a fire. Anyways what I like about the whole concept of Mr. Miracle is that we have a character who sees the idea of buying groceries with his wife more exciting than fighting a war between cosmic gods. And King being the main writer makes sense since he was a CIA agent who left once his kid was born. And the latter issues were controversial, but at the end if Free is in a sort of underworld, then after all of the suffering and pain when he sees a chance he made this underworld his own paradise, in a way and following Kirby's mythological inspirations for the new gods, Free made his own Elysian Fields, a place where he can finally feel at peace. P.s: like you said, suicide is not the answer
That is one of the things that interest me about Mister Miracle and Barda. One is the blood/adopted son to the rival rulers of 4th world, and the other is a warrior raised on the mentality to kill, destroy, and conqueror for her king. Only for both of them to find a simple life of being homeowners and living like a domestic couple to be their dream. Kind of beautiful in way.
In Issue #7 of this miniseries, Scott Free refers to his son, Jacob, as " just a ... lump." Lump was a mind-controlling humanoid, created Scott's abusive foster mother, Granny Goodness. Lump caused his victims to suffer from terrifying fever dreams deployed to break their spirit. Darkseid Is.
My favorite comic of 2018 by far. So so good. Probably a little biased due to the birth of my first child this summer and seeing Scott go through normal dad stuff made it so relatable.
Really great breakdown, love how deep and rich the analysis is. This was a great series and I'm so happy there is a video that really breaks it down perfectly. This has definitely put me on to your other work. Well done.
I think a Final Crisis sequel may be coming soon. Metron put Shilo Norman in a similar test in Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle in preparation for Final Crisis. The New Gods seen in Multiversity are obviously not the current ones, but the original ones seen at the end F.C. and so is their Darkseid who seems to be returning.
Matt, you're always really good at pointing out subtle things in comics I've read that help me have all the more appreciation for them. Having said that, I totally thought you were going to reveal that the theme of each issue was hinted at based on the superhero shirts Scott wears in each issue. Or that the shirts of the various heroes he wears would be some super subtle hint into something about the series. I guess not though. I guess Scott just owns a bunch of JL members T-shirts. Also, I think King gets a LOT of unjust hate for his Batman run. In that fashion of, "Well....this one thing is bad, so therefore it all sucks!". I think most people were pissed at the Wedding Saga, and never let up on King after that. I really enjoyed Cold Days, and sure, I'm looking forward to Tynion's and Daniel's run, but overall, I still like King's Batman. I mean, he's no Morrison or Snyder, but it's not even close to some of the worst comics I've read.
Also, I just finished reading King's Vision and Mister Miracle back to back in less than a week. I was bored as shit most of the way through The Vision. Nazden's Vision video made me only slightly appreciate it more. At least the deluxe edition hardcover is a nice book, but now I wish I had that for the Mister Miracle book because I enjoyed that series a LOT more!
Jack Kirby is an amazing Artist/Storyteller that inspired the next next generation after him to write these relatable stories even in a high fantasy landscape, the comparisons between the New Gods Anthologies and the afterlife are compelling to say the least. All in all, even if someone hasn't read Mister Miracle(2017) won't be disappointed. And I just hope I didn't sound to preachy.
I'm super late to this but i loved this book series. I love the constant fucked up reality checks Scott had throughout the series. Issue #4 is the best one in my opinion. The "True False" Trial was amazing.
Thanks for summing this up for me. Reading the last issue I realized I couldn’t remember where I had left off in the story. The series is great but it’s hard to read month to month. Still plan to read again now that’s the story is complete. There is something unsettling about how King writes that I really enjoy.
Thanks man, you're the first youtuber that criticizes this comic with a full objective point of view. At first i didnt like issue 12, but then i thought, id probably stayed there too if thats the place where i could be happy. A really good series and your video was awesome. Congratulation, you have a new suscriber! Greetings from Argentina
Yeah, the beauty of the final issue is that it can be interpreted as either Scott Free escaping or failing to escape. And in either case, it can be viewed as selfish or earned.
Very interesting analysis! A Black Bolt (by Saladin Ahmed and Christian Ward) video would be great, it was the greatest comic released by marvel since Vision,it is truly amazing.
Great video! I just finished reading.yesterday and I appreciate this breakdown. I am such a fan of humanizing these “gods” in a way that does not speak down towards their roots.
Can't say enough how much I love the video, as well as the series. Though I did notice that Barda was there with the heroes when Metron gave him the opportunity to escape. So I think that supports Scott being trapped by the equation or The Lump. Then again... he could just be dead. Heroes come back from the dead all the time, maybe he turned down the offer.
10:31 yes but like I said in my first comment, this Scott Free isn’t the Post Flashpoint one, but the ones seen in Multiversity who is the same one from before Flashpoint.
Thanks for providing the frame work from which to read the entire run... Read the first four issues but elected to wait until its in trade. I found it difficult following the changes, ever so slight.. High concept I don't know; a road map for possible consideration, hell yeah!! Tom King is a thinker who not for the faint of thought. He exams not the mundane, though a part of life, but the how we define our existence and the handling of the mundane... keep up the good work. I appreciate you...
Love the comic and your analysis of it. I wish you had spoken about all the easter eggs and meta moments of the book with references to Jack Kirby and Stan Lee even to people from DC.
I must've read this book 50 times. It's that good. Why it hasn't been made into a movie is what's wrong with DC's movie arm. Heck, it's even in storyboard form already.
Great video as always. I honestly really like Tom King’s work. His work on Vision is fantastic and I really enjoy his Batman run. Yes, it has its really awful moments (*cough*Wedding*cough*) but I like it despite its problems. As for Heroes in Crisis...well we’ll see how that goes. Can’t wait to get Mister Miracle in trade though. P.S. thanks for making Vamipres by The Midnight one of the most greatest pieces of music I have ever listened to.
Just came across your channel and am really liking what I've seen so far! Mister Miracle is one of my favourite comics of the past few years and is one of those superhero comics that shows just how much potential the genre has, especially in terms of the way it can be used as allegory and metaphor for all sorts of things. I really like your take on it but one thing that I don't believe you mentioned is something that just struck me during a recent re-read: the monologue that Scott has about Descartes during his "final day" with Barda touches a lot on what you talk about during this issue but it strikes me that his constant referral to God, in a book about "gods" and the way our identity and our reality is inextricably linked with not just ourselves but with God too. Quite what it all means is something I need to think about as this idea just recently grabbed me but it's something else that King may well want readers to consider. Or not. I'm aware that King is (half?) Jewish but I actually have no earthly idea about his religious beliefs. If he does indeed have such beliefs then they may well play a part in the way he processed his PTSD and his infamous panic attack - though, actually, being an atheist could affect such processes just as much - and may well be another dimension to this almost ludicrously layered comic book (as you so hilariously portrayed in those last few minutes of this video!). Anyway, just something to consider. Keep up the great work. I look forward to checking out more of your videos.
This also have some similarities to my favorite movie, Inception. Though it doesn't have ptsd and anxiety themes in it, it still deals with a man and a place far away from reality. Now we all know that ending, there have been many theories of if Cobb is in reality or another dream state. And a lot of people kinda miss the actual point of the ending. The way I interpretate is, Cobb have finally found a world where he is happy and if its reality or not, I don't really care. Because Cobb found the world where he can meet his children and whether that's fake or no, he's comfortable in it and that's his reality now. I kinda see that aspect sorta plays out in the last issue of this comic. Mister Miracle doesn't want to escape this reality because this is the place where he is happy, no matter if it's the fakest thing in the world, in the eyes of him, it's the realest thing in the world.
Damn! You really got creative there. Thus might be your best video yet. I was already going to get the trade when it comes out but your approval just got me more hyped.
I like to think that the reality caused after Scott's suicide attempt is the end result of his ability to escape anything. Explanations like heaven, hell, or anti-life don't fit exactly right, and I obviously don't think King is suggesting that suicide leads to fulfillment. I think those possible explanations exist insofar as they are relevant explanations that Scott can decide are the reason if he so chooses, but in actuality, he is in this world because he chose to be. He made it. He escaped the endless cycle of DC Comics canon and the forever cycle of pain that it has caused him.
I was hoping you would review this series Matt. King sort of did the same thing with Kyle Rayner in Omega Men (one you could do in the future?). I think Tom King works best with limited series as opposed to ongoing.
@@MattDraper Why? I honestly want to know why Vision and Sheriff (and MM) are put so highly above Omega Men, a series that I liked more than King's other titles, and after watching this video, I think you could go farther into detail than I could on why that title was almost cancelled and survived while his pretty meh Batman run is still going. Obviously, it's just differing opinions on King but it'd be more interesting to see you compare his lesser known series to the rest of his epic maxi-series (and Batman).
I know I'm a year late, but I just wanted to say that after getting halfway into this video I decided to actually go read it, and I'm not done with it yet but I just wanted to share an observation (that you might make later in the video I'm not sure) Like you pointed out, the whole series is printed in 3x3x3, and I think that it's used fantastically to continue to blur the lines of reality, we see continuously that despite the gutters between the images, they do often combine to make an image that should be any combination of any panels big. The 3x3x3 layout is made to be very easy to read, that's just a fact, but these combo panels often had me reminding myself that the world isn't that simple, that I should pay more attention to what's part of something else, and feeling generally like the world isn't what it seems.
I know Tom King gets a lot of criticism for his mistakes in life (mainly the whole problem with Jae Lee and the later issues of Batman: Rebirth as an example) but I'm actually a big fan of him, his work on Mister Miracle, The Sheriff of Babylon, the first half of his Batman run, A Once Crowded Sky, and The Vision are all absolutely incredible examples of his talent and skill. It's quite interesting how he manages to use that knowledge he learned in the C.I.A. to make his books and stories feel more real and psychological.
I totally get that. The final issue is the aftermath of the decision but the decision happens between the issues. It’s an interesting decision, but pretty dark.
I feel the lack of a grandiouse ending makes sense for the story, because the whole point was looking for the mundane withing the epic, looking at the actual bittersweet feel of real life... And real life veeeeery rarely has explosive amazing endibgs - or actually, even proper "endings"... So, since the comic was not about the epic space odissey but about facing life in a more grounded way, the important thing is the story as a whole and the moments here and there, not a massive final punch. But yeah, I see how this can be highly polemic...
I don't like it because he abandon Barda . I mean did she join the female furies again to save his life ? It seems kind of selfish to stick your self in a illusion while the one you truly care about is suffering out there.
Great job! Still not quite sure what it was that I read, but this was a great guide for my second run on the collection (which I can't wait for!). Tom King is a puzzle: I never liked his work on Batman - some of his writing ticks just made me mad - but I feel it works perfectly on books like Vision and MM. Have to go back to his older works, maybe figure him out...
Darkseid is.
Darkseid is.
@ Matt Draper Nice one, could you do a video on Jack Kirby's New Gods saga?
Darkseid is. I mean, yeah I’m planning on doing one!
Are you going to talk about Tom King's Batman? I find his run quite enjoyable and got me back into reading Batman again.
No plans at the moment.
King said to CBR: ""Mister Miracle is about him being stuck in this horrible reality and can he get out of it or not?" the writer answered. "We can't get out. We have to find our way to live with it and find a way to make it better."
That suggests to me that he actually is in reality, but it's kinda broken.
you're close, the major clue is in the comic distortion effects and duct tape: Mister Miracle is in reality, he is alive, but since the whole world was a piece of shit, he's trying to escape from it. This is confirmed when he sees Metron and the whole DC Universe: he's in-between realities and different Earths. And when one turns way too dark for him, he escapes to another and keeps jumping one from another, hence losing some of his former self each time he does so.
100% I feel like "He's dead and it's a dream" is too much of an easy, cliched explanation. I feel like it's Scott's fucked-up, broken view of the real world around him and the fact that he's disassociating a lot of the time
Now that’s a universal struggle
@@fdslk1 i had always interpreted that static (and especially the hallucinations in issue 12) as Scott's trauma tainting otherwise happy/neutral moments, but I like this interpretation so much better
@@MilkyWayGrump I think the fact that we can carry so many different interpretations of the story shows just how powerful it really is.
That ending was GOLD.
damn near made me piss my pants lmao
This book was trash and Tom King sucks. I want my money back after reading this garbage. What a disservice to Jack Kirby.
Well i just finished it but i didn't like tho , the chem between barda and miracle was nice but it was such let down because it explain the powers or the sbilities of mister miracle
The most important takeaway from Mister Miracle:
Batman kills babies.
They have studies.
Also a veggie tray is good
@@valletasafter reading this run a veggie tray became my go to bring when I wasn't told what to bring. It always works, everyone loves a veggie tray.
loneliness + alienation + fear + despair + self-worth ÷ mockery ÷ condemnation ÷ misunderstanding × guilt × shame × failure × judgment n=y where y=hope and n=folly, love=lies, life=death, self=dark side
Darkseid is.
Oh hell nah someone hide this from darkseid
Darkseid is.
Oh no, you cracked the anti-life equation. Let's hope Darkseid doesn't know how to use TH-cam.
When you realize the entire comic series of this Mister Miracle is literally just the Anti-Life Equation playing out...
When I was younger I was such a fan of Orion. Seemed like such a badass. Never fearing Darkseid. But as I grow up, Mister Miracle is a much more interesting/complex character.
I respectfully disagree. Scott Free is a complex character, and he definitely stand out in the crowd as far as superheroes go; but I think Orion is just as layered and complex a character as Mister Miracle, but just hasn’t had the opportunity to get the same character deep dive as MM. Orion is a monster, who descended from the devil, but raised by god. He has the same beastly urges as Kalibak, his wicked brother, but is destructive actions are “justified” by his alignment with New Genesis. What’s twisted is he’s too aggressive to live in a world of peace, so instead of pushing for a diplomatic or pacifistic resolution to the war of gods, he just waits like a rabid dog for somebody to slip up. That’s why in every time a writer tries to write an ending to the New Gods story, Orion always dies, because there’s just no way Orion can have a life after the war of the New Gods; just like his bio bro, Kalibak, and his bio Daddy, Darkseid
@figs3 correction: So I guess in the HUNGER DOGS book, Jack Kirby “ends” the series with Orion surviving and hooking up with a lady who’s name escapes me. But from what I understand, that was not the way Kirby intended to end the series. I think he was planning for the war to end with the death of the New Gods, and the beginning of the new wave of gods. However, DC didn’t want Jack Kirby to kill off the characters he had just created for them.
@@coopersheridan73 I guess it was less of a Orion is not as complex character, more of a me not appreciating Scott enough. I still like Orion but like you said after Darkseid, there's not a lot for him to do. But Scott has Barda, getting over trauma. There's just a lot to MM as a whole that I'm beginning to notice and appreciate a lot more.
Orion may be the "cool" one but Mister Miracle is the far more relatable one.
omg, I get shivers every time "darkside is" appears on the screem
Anna Lopatina same. And idk why, but it really freaks me out when Big Barda says it.
I love how Scott's personality, voice and mood shift between the shirt he is wearing.
I love how it ends with Scott saying "I can always escape", leaving it even more open ended
"Can you?"
I started this series when I was struggling with depression trapped in a prison of my own making like Mr Miracle, Scott Free helped me through it, I finally read the ending today free of the prison in my own mind just like the immortal the amazing mr miracle
This read..man, it saved my marriage. I still feel that hopeless sadness every once and a while and I feel it..darkseid is...and you know what this beautiful dark tale has taught is that, so is my wife, so is my son. So am I. ❤️
That’s awesome man, glad you’re doing better
This gave me inspiration for my next tattoo, “Darkseid Is. But so am I” what a beautiful sentiment. Thank you for sharing!
Real made my relationship stronger fr
Wow. You really went all out there with this one, shows you really loved this miniseries. Great work!
Thanks!
I read Mr Miracle 3 months after my daughter was born. It hit me HARD
Matt Draper
describes Mister Miracle: "Jesus meets Flash Gordon".
Dear lord am I glad I found you channel, and that you covered this book right after I finished reading it.
While I don’t like his Batman run, but I do believe King can be a great writer if put him in the right comic.
Agreed! He needs to be specifically matched to the right subject or else it may not work.
Paymon Khaleghi Pretty much. At least with series that aren’t main ongoings. Case in point: his run on the Vision.
Thank you. I can't find anyone else who doesn't rave about his Batman. I don't like it and I didn't like Scott Snyder's, and everyone else seems over the moon about them. Grant Morrison did a lot longer and weirder runs, but at no point did I think "This doesn't seem like Batman," or "Batman wouldn't do that" the way I do with King.
Scott Millsap Really? I usually see people being 50/50 with King’s run, while the majority like Snyder’s run and most of people like Morrison’s run although it’s not as universally liked.
@@scottmillsap2376 I'm mostly with you on King, but Scott Snyder's run was amazing. Especially the first arc about the Court of Owls. Not the biggest fan of how it all kinda stopped in the middle to do Zero Year, tho.
So essentially, the point is not if Scott is in heaven, or hell, or in Darkseids reality, it’s that it doesn’t matter, and Scott has made the most of whatever he has. It’s a lesson we should all learn I suppose
i'm struggling with depression right now, for years it was like, locked up in a darkseid of mind (pun intended) and it came up recently by many reasons to say hello
the first six issues of mister miracle were something that i could relate cause i had been in that situation i saw the character on, laying in the bathroom with blood in my hands and a vague feeling that it was ok
there were several moments like that in which i could relate with Scott Free's feeling and, for one moment, i was looking at myself (?)
at the end of the first issue where he and barba prepare to go on and face the war at New Genesis/Apokolips and he starts to TRY to say what he feels about that, i could relate to that, the feeling that something is not right and i just act normal to things that are dangerous even to think about (like Scott talking about his suicide attempt at the interview)
it's really hard to come up and say something (even vague as "something is not right") because this feeling of non-existent hope is able to poison even the strongest minds
in the fourth issue, Orion starts to judge miracle and, in certain point, he completely explodes and punch orion's face, screaming for nothing and with a vague look in his eyes, until barba comes up to hug him and give a little, even the slightest comfort for him
that was another moment i saw myself in, like many others
the first six issues of mister miracle are based on the depressive feeling in the character, this loss of hope i mentioned and the way he just don't care about all the pain he caused to himself (or not KNOWING he caused pain, i'd say, but then, after that, the series take it to another level, showing what scott has to focus (the war, barda, their son) and starts to breath and see things in another way, slowly
until the last issue where all the traumas and ghosts from his past start showing up to say "hey, i know you're doing well, but remember, you are dead inside" (btw, another moment i could relate), but then, at the end, highfather comes up in this ghost-past-thing to say "nothing is real, you are already lost" and the only valid answer is: scott punches it in the face
all that pain and memories and anxiety doesn't define who Scott Free really is, they molded his personality and his life, but they don't define him, they are only the sorrows and regrets that he should understand, learn and get over it
at last, that was the moment where i saw myself totally in the comic, this may sound really boring and stupid (attention whore, maybe) but the series had a really great way of showing depression and anxiety in someone's life, reading it helped me a lot by showing that in not the only one and the feelings that a get is not exclusive, many people understand it
that is way i try to think that, in the end, Scott was Free (another pun intended, sorry) from his depression and all the shackles it could put himself in, because, again, they do not define who you are
Thank you for sharing! I’ve gone through similar hurdles in life and I definitely relate to what you’re saying and what this comic is portraying. I hope that you are doing well and finding the support you deserve. It can be incredibly difficult to open up and talk about these feelings, but finding connection with someone in a healthy manner can make such a huge difference.
Well said, I too hope you are holding up well and wih you all the best 💚💚
This comic is truly king’s magnum opus, one of the best superhero comics ever written. King writes this story about all of these themes that we as humans have to struggle with and overcome and make it hit. While also writing about these ridiculous characters of the new gods. King is a giant author of comics
Beautifully said.
Agreed.
This was an absolutely brilliant deconstruction.
My band and I actually wrote a song that's completely and utterly inspired by this series. Mister Miracle by Neanderthal Opera. We put in the glitches and distortion, too, etc.. Anyway, absolutely loved and related to this series and got a Mister Miracle tattoo because of it. Saw King at a con last year and he loved it lol. Keep up the great work, Matt
The New Gods has always been really unappealing to me. Taking Aja & Fraction’s “Hawkeye” approach to this is an excellent way to handle it and I look forward to reading this. Thanks for showing me another great series!
Thanks! This is definitely a unique, decompressed, character focused run like Hawkeye, but fairly different. Hope you enjoy!
@BLAQ JOKER Agreed, along with Morrison's take in JLA and Final Crisis
I am sorry but as someone who has actually seen the new gida in action I can tell you that Tom's interpretation is just disrespectful and mean spirited. Sorry but I do not like his version of Lightray
Beautiful video man. You are truly a fantastic youtuber. Also this comic is one of the
Best stories ever written. Amazing...
Thank you!
I’m upset that the trade wait for this one is as long as it is.
This story needs to be on James Gunn's radar for his DCU.
It's a beautiful story that I think thematically works really well with a lot of Gunn's work. And with slight changes would be a great introduction to to the New Genesis/ Apokalypse characters/war.
Hell Scott's life on Earth could easily be the thing that gets Darkseid's attention on Earth.
I've seen the commentaries from others TH-camrs who are well known comic reviewers, which I can't mention because they are quite controversial figures and the last thing I want is cause a fire. Anyways what I like about the whole concept of Mr. Miracle is that we have a character who sees the idea of buying groceries with his wife more exciting than fighting a war between cosmic gods. And King being the main writer makes sense since he was a CIA agent who left once his kid was born. And the latter issues were controversial, but at the end if Free is in a sort of underworld, then after all of the suffering and pain when he sees a chance he made this underworld his own paradise, in a way and following Kirby's mythological inspirations for the new gods, Free made his own Elysian Fields, a place where he can finally feel at peace.
P.s: like you said, suicide is not the answer
That is one of the things that interest me about Mister Miracle and Barda. One is the blood/adopted son to the rival rulers of 4th world, and the other is a warrior raised on the mentality to kill, destroy, and conqueror for her king. Only for both of them to find a simple life of being homeowners and living like a domestic couple to be their dream. Kind of beautiful in way.
Love the "Darkseid is."/Glitch pop-ups. Too good.
In Issue #7 of this miniseries, Scott Free refers to his son, Jacob, as " just a ... lump." Lump was a mind-controlling humanoid, created Scott's abusive foster mother, Granny Goodness. Lump caused his victims to suffer from terrifying fever dreams deployed to break their spirit. Darkseid Is.
My favorite comic of 2018 by far. So so good. Probably a little biased due to the birth of my first child this summer and seeing Scott go through normal dad stuff made it so relatable.
Really great breakdown, love how deep and rich the analysis is. This was a great series and I'm so happy there is a video that really breaks it down perfectly. This has definitely put me on to your other work. Well done.
Thank you, I really appreciate it!
I really want to see King's take on Daredevil now
Forrestfireart ...no
It's so good to rewatch this video, the editing is on point and the analysis of the comic itself is great. Keep up with your great work Matt!
I think a Final Crisis sequel may be coming soon. Metron put Shilo Norman in a similar test in Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle in preparation for Final Crisis. The New Gods seen in Multiversity are obviously not the current ones, but the original ones seen at the end F.C. and so is their Darkseid who seems to be returning.
One of the best deconstruction of a superhero I have ever read
All those “Darkseid is” pop ups really started to give me chills.
And the there was that perfect ending.
Matt, you're always really good at pointing out subtle things in comics I've read that help me have all the more appreciation for them. Having said that, I totally thought you were going to reveal that the theme of each issue was hinted at based on the superhero shirts Scott wears in each issue. Or that the shirts of the various heroes he wears would be some super subtle hint into something about the series. I guess not though. I guess Scott just owns a bunch of JL members T-shirts.
Also, I think King gets a LOT of unjust hate for his Batman run. In that fashion of, "Well....this one thing is bad, so therefore it all sucks!". I think most people were pissed at the Wedding Saga, and never let up on King after that. I really enjoyed Cold Days, and sure, I'm looking forward to Tynion's and Daniel's run, but overall, I still like King's Batman. I mean, he's no Morrison or Snyder, but it's not even close to some of the worst comics I've read.
Also, I just finished reading King's Vision and Mister Miracle back to back in less than a week. I was bored as shit most of the way through The Vision. Nazden's Vision video made me only slightly appreciate it more. At least the deluxe edition hardcover is a nice book, but now I wish I had that for the Mister Miracle book because I enjoyed that series a LOT more!
That ending was SICK. Another brilliant video man, well done! You’re a scholastic titan of comics, keep em coming 👌
Mr miracle is now my favorite version of telling the story of the new gods
All these years later I love watching this fantastic video and see how far you’ve come
Jack Kirby is an amazing Artist/Storyteller that inspired the next next generation after him to write these relatable stories even in a high fantasy landscape, the comparisons between the New Gods Anthologies and the afterlife are compelling to say the least. All in all, even if someone hasn't read Mister Miracle(2017) won't be disappointed. And I just hope I didn't sound to preachy.
I'm super late to this but i loved this book series. I love the constant fucked up reality checks Scott had throughout the series. Issue #4 is the best one in my opinion. The "True False" Trial was amazing.
Thanks for summing this up for me. Reading the last issue I realized I couldn’t remember where I had left off in the story. The series is great but it’s hard to read month to month. Still plan to read again now that’s the story is complete. There is something unsettling about how King writes that I really enjoy.
Thanks man, you're the first youtuber that criticizes this comic with a full objective point of view. At first i didnt like issue 12, but then i thought, id probably stayed there too if thats the place where i could be happy. A really good series and your video was awesome. Congratulation, you have a new suscriber! Greetings from Argentina
Yeah, the beauty of the final issue is that it can be interpreted as either Scott Free escaping or failing to escape. And in either case, it can be viewed as selfish or earned.
WOW this is quality writing from your part. This is fantastic! Can't wait for your take on Geoff Johns' and Frank's "Doomsday Clock." Keep it up!
Thanks! Hopefully I’ll get that out when the series finishes two years from now haha
Very interesting analysis!
A Black Bolt (by Saladin Ahmed and Christian Ward) video would be great, it was the greatest comic released by marvel since Vision,it is truly amazing.
Great video! I just finished reading.yesterday and I appreciate this breakdown. I am such a fan of humanizing these “gods” in a way that does not speak down towards their roots.
Definitely comic of the year for me. Great vid.
Amazing video! Great job breaking down one of the best fictional stories I've ever read!
This one of my favorite videos of yours😊
Darkseid is.......
Beautiful video as always Matt. I’m glad that the series didn’t fumble as it came to a close. Looking forward to the Fourth World Video.
"Fuck you."
- Mister Miracle to Darkseid, holy shit.
Fantastic video - came right here after finishing the series and I loved it!
Great take on the series one of my favorite comics to read this past year
btw, i had never heard of your channel, just saw a link to it in a group of comics i'm in and your work here was amazing, really!
Marcos Vinícius thank you!
This was one of the best miniseries I've read in a long time.
Can't say enough how much I love the video, as well as the series. Though I did notice that Barda was there with the heroes when Metron gave him the opportunity to escape. So I think that supports Scott being trapped by the equation or The Lump. Then again... he could just be dead. Heroes come back from the dead all the time, maybe he turned down the offer.
10:31 yes but like I said in my first comment, this Scott Free isn’t the Post Flashpoint one, but the ones seen in Multiversity who is the same one from before Flashpoint.
Thanks for providing the frame work from which to read the entire run... Read the first four issues but elected to wait until its in trade. I found it difficult following the changes, ever so slight.. High concept I don't know; a road map for possible consideration, hell yeah!! Tom King is a thinker who not for the faint of thought. He exams not the mundane, though a part of life, but the how we define our existence and the handling of the mundane... keep up the good work. I appreciate you...
Best series of the decade? I can't decide just yet but it's up there
Love the comic and your analysis of it. I wish you had spoken about all the easter eggs and meta moments of the book with references to Jack Kirby and Stan Lee even to people from DC.
Incredible work! Your videos are top notch quality all around!
This was awesome.!! Great work brother thank you for the great content !
Thank you for this. This has been one of the best runs of any comic i've read in a long time. Darkseid is.
I must've read this book 50 times. It's that good. Why it hasn't been made into a movie is what's wrong with DC's movie arm. Heck, it's even in storyboard form already.
Thank you for that amazing explanation ❤️.
Great video! Hilarious ending.
Brilliant deconstruction of the series
Great video as always. I honestly really like Tom King’s work. His work on Vision is fantastic and I really enjoy his Batman run. Yes, it has its really awful moments (*cough*Wedding*cough*) but I like it despite its problems. As for Heroes in Crisis...well we’ll see how that goes. Can’t wait to get Mister Miracle in trade though.
P.S. thanks for making Vamipres by The Midnight one of the most greatest pieces of music I have ever listened to.
Thanks! Vampires never gets old. And I think Vision is still Kong’s best work. I’ll make a video on that someday.
Just came across your channel and am really liking what I've seen so far! Mister Miracle is one of my favourite comics of the past few years and is one of those superhero comics that shows just how much potential the genre has, especially in terms of the way it can be used as allegory and metaphor for all sorts of things.
I really like your take on it but one thing that I don't believe you mentioned is something that just struck me during a recent re-read: the monologue that Scott has about Descartes during his "final day" with Barda touches a lot on what you talk about during this issue but it strikes me that his constant referral to God, in a book about "gods" and the way our identity and our reality is inextricably linked with not just ourselves but with God too.
Quite what it all means is something I need to think about as this idea just recently grabbed me but it's something else that King may well want readers to consider. Or not. I'm aware that King is (half?) Jewish but I actually have no earthly idea about his religious beliefs. If he does indeed have such beliefs then they may well play a part in the way he processed his PTSD and his infamous panic attack - though, actually, being an atheist could affect such processes just as much - and may well be another dimension to this almost ludicrously layered comic book (as you so hilariously portrayed in those last few minutes of this video!).
Anyway, just something to consider. Keep up the great work. I look forward to checking out more of your videos.
Yayyyyyy new vid ! Love this channel!
This also have some similarities to my favorite movie, Inception. Though it doesn't have ptsd and anxiety themes in it, it still deals with a man and a place far away from reality. Now we all know that ending, there have been many theories of if Cobb is in reality or another dream state. And a lot of people kinda miss the actual point of the ending. The way I interpretate is, Cobb have finally found a world where he is happy and if its reality or not, I don't really care. Because Cobb found the world where he can meet his children and whether that's fake or no, he's comfortable in it and that's his reality now. I kinda see that aspect sorta plays out in the last issue of this comic. Mister Miracle doesn't want to escape this reality because this is the place where he is happy, no matter if it's the fakest thing in the world, in the eyes of him, it's the realest thing in the world.
This video is on point. Great job!
I was not expecting this video to be this soon. Thanks
I hope this series is available in a combines edition, that way I won’t have to buy each issue individually.
I seriously want to read this series!!
I serve my country's armed services, this story hits a little too close to home. It's one story that I can say that truly saved lives.
This review is so excellent.
Damn! You really got creative there. Thus might be your best video yet. I was already going to get the trade when it comes out but your approval just got me more hyped.
Thank you!
I loved. the video. Thanks Matt! Great explanation and pretty funny too. Darkseid Approves ... I mean is. :)
Best use of a veggie platter ever.
Anyone who don’t read Tom King’s Vision mini series should do that now. It is nearly as good.
Great video :)
About the nine panel grid it reminded me of Mazzucchelli and Paul Karasik adaptation of _City of glass_
I rarely comment on ytube but I just have to say this was an amazing Video
Excellent Analysis. Great video
Damn that was fast. Knew you’d do a video on this but not this fast. Great job
I wrote about 3/4s of the script after issue 11 came out, then finished it right after 12. Wanted to see how close I could get this out to the finale!
Awesome video - I really am in no place to try and figure out the ending but you nailed the motivations. Noice.
But still agree that mister miracle got depression but found happines
This video and your channel are underrated
I like to think that the reality caused after Scott's suicide attempt is the end result of his ability to escape anything. Explanations like heaven, hell, or anti-life don't fit exactly right, and I obviously don't think King is suggesting that suicide leads to fulfillment. I think those possible explanations exist insofar as they are relevant explanations that Scott can decide are the reason if he so chooses, but in actuality, he is in this world because he chose to be. He made it. He escaped the endless cycle of DC Comics canon and the forever cycle of pain that it has caused him.
Darkseid's so powerful he's now breaking the 4th wall and hijacking TH-cam videos.
Fantastic video. Your best yet.
I was hoping you would review this series Matt. King sort of did the same thing with Kyle Rayner in Omega Men (one you could do in the future?). I think Tom King works best with limited series as opposed to ongoing.
Yeah I agree about him being on miniseries. I think when I go back to a King comic, I’ll do Vision or Sheriff first.
@@MattDraper Why? I honestly want to know why Vision and Sheriff (and MM) are put so highly above Omega Men, a series that I liked more than King's other titles, and after watching this video, I think you could go farther into detail than I could on why that title was almost cancelled and survived while his pretty meh Batman run is still going. Obviously, it's just differing opinions on King but it'd be more interesting to see you compare his lesser known series to the rest of his epic maxi-series (and Batman).
Here in 2024. They nailed it and you nailed it 👏
This book basically helped me with some sad shit in my life
I know I'm a year late, but I just wanted to say that after getting halfway into this video I decided to actually go read it, and I'm not done with it yet but I just wanted to share an observation (that you might make later in the video I'm not sure)
Like you pointed out, the whole series is printed in 3x3x3, and I think that it's used fantastically to continue to blur the lines of reality, we see continuously that despite the gutters between the images, they do often combine to make an image that should be any combination of any panels big.
The 3x3x3 layout is made to be very easy to read, that's just a fact, but these combo panels often had me reminding myself that the world isn't that simple, that I should pay more attention to what's part of something else, and feeling generally like the world isn't what it seems.
I felt really dumb after reading this series, as I had so much questions and confusion.... you sir are fantastic and much much smarter than me.
Haha I’m sure you’re plenty smart!
I know Tom King gets a lot of criticism for his mistakes in life (mainly the whole problem with Jae Lee and the later issues of Batman: Rebirth as an example) but I'm actually a big fan of him, his work on Mister Miracle, The Sheriff of Babylon, the first half of his Batman run, A Once Crowded Sky, and The Vision are all absolutely incredible examples of his talent and skill. It's quite interesting how he manages to use that knowledge he learned in the C.I.A. to make his books and stories feel more real and psychological.
Really good video. Amazing book and good break down of it.
The ending was a disappointment but I had fun through the whole thing up until that ending. Was nice to see the New Gods and the birth of Jacob.
I think that ending is very divisive. I’m not entirely sure it works, but it’s interesting to discuss.
@@MattDraper I think making it unclear and with not a climax makes it feel like a disappointment. It just is, like Darkseid.
I totally get that. The final issue is the aftermath of the decision but the decision happens between the issues. It’s an interesting decision, but pretty dark.
I feel the lack of a grandiouse ending makes sense for the story, because the whole point was looking for the mundane withing the epic, looking at the actual bittersweet feel of real life... And real life veeeeery rarely has explosive amazing endibgs - or actually, even proper "endings"... So, since the comic was not about the epic space odissey but about facing life in a more grounded way, the important thing is the story as a whole and the moments here and there, not a massive final punch. But yeah, I see how this can be highly polemic...
I don't like it because he abandon Barda . I mean did she join the female furies again to save his life ? It seems kind of selfish to stick your self in a illusion while the one you truly care about is suffering out there.
Wow what a masterpiece of. video!! You got a new loyal sub here
Great job! Still not quite sure what it was that I read, but this was a great guide for my second run on the collection (which I can't wait for!). Tom King is a puzzle: I never liked his work on Batman - some of his writing ticks just made me mad - but I feel it works perfectly on books like Vision and MM. Have to go back to his older works, maybe figure him out...
Superbly done!
This is my favorite of your videos