One of the most exciting aspects of DC’s Rebirth was the addition of Tom King to their line up of amazing talent that were going to undertake trying to fix issues that haunted DC during the New 52. His task was not an easy one by any means as he was taking over Batman, which meant following up Scott Snyder’s amazing run during the New 52. King himself had just finished the critically acclaimed title Vision over at Marvel Comics. With Batman now entering it’s 29th issue since the relaunch, we can say without a doubt that the Caped Crusader is in good hands, but this week Tom King will launch a new 12-issue comic book featuring Mister Miracle.

Mister Miracle is, according to DC Comics, “One of Jack Kirby’s most beloved New Gods”. For a little bit of history on the character, he made his first appearance in DC’s Mister Miracle #1 in April of 1971, which of course was written and drawn by Jack Kirby. His real name is Scott Free and he is son of New Genesis’s Highfather and heir to the throne. As part of a peace treaty between Apokolips and New Genesis, Darkseid and Highfather exchanged heirs. This forced Scott to be raised in the hellish Apokolips in one of Granny Goodness’s “Terror Orphanages”. As he grew up, this is also where he ended up meeting his future wife Big Barda. Eventually Scott, and later Barda, escaped Apokolips and fled to Earth where Scott met an escape artist named Thaddeus Brown and his assistant Oberon who taught Scott how to be a master escapologist. After Thaddeus was killed, Scott took over his stage name of Mister Miracle and eventually joined the Justice League International with his wife.

So what happens to a man who can escape virtually any death trap, including Apokolips? What happens to that man when he gets bored and starts looking for a greater challenge? Well according to King, you try and escape death itself.

I had the opportunity to take a look at an advanced copy, and this is something very different than anything else DC Comics is currently publishing. The first issue does a fantastic job at investing you not in Mister Miracle the hero, but Scott Free the person. King gives us an in depth look at what goes on in the mind of a man who can presumably escape anything, and what happens when he attempts to escape death. As he deals with this, news from New Genesis will force him back to his place of origin, where he will have to not only continue to try and escape his current psychological predicament, but a deadly foe from his past.

I find that the artwork by Mitch Gerads might be an acquired taste for some readers. I feel that if fits the book very well, as it feels like Gerads is showing us this world from the view of a very troubled Scott Free, where nothing is clear and somethings may not even be real. My favorite pages are ones where Scott is giving a late night interview and we see it from a fuzzy television set, those are done very well. I am not too fond of the detail in the characters and lack of backgrounds but the writing makes up for it.

Overall, this is a great to start to what will no doubt be another great story by King. Will Scott be able to escape death itself? We’ll find out in the next few months. Issue #1 hits stands this week, and will be available at your local comic book shops everywhere.

DC’s Mister Miracle #1 will be on sale August 9, 2017.

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