tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post5688195035134899203..comments2024-03-27T21:12:28.287-05:00Comments on Collected Editions: Review: Mister Miracle: The Deluxe Edition hardcover (DC Comics)collectededitionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-64929891747892790072021-01-10T21:12:30.197-06:002021-01-10T21:12:30.197-06:00Interesting ... I wonder if one could speculate wh...Interesting ... I wonder if one could speculate when in The Lump he is, like could this all take place in Scott's mind during his first encounter with The Lump or something. Based on what Highfather said, I was going on the idea that Scott was somehow inside the Anti-Life Equation, but thinking about it, I guess there's no precedent for that being a thing that actually happens to people.<br /><br />Can't wait now for some other writer to misunderstand and have Scott show up with his kids ...collectededitionshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-2856093101884292612021-01-07T11:32:32.634-06:002021-01-07T11:32:32.634-06:00My take is that it’s sort of like Inception - he m...My take is that it’s sort of like Inception - he may very well be in The Lump (with Metron trying to bust him out at the end), and Scott seems to know that. But he’s happy, and as far as he’s concerned, to borrow a phrase from Westworld, “If you can’t tell, does it matter?”<br /><br />The continuity of this series is largely irreconcilable with, say, Justice League Odyssey, so that makes it more plausible that this is an alt-continuity Lump encounter. Indeed, Lump seems to be the conspicuous absence in the book...<br /><br />I don’t have the book in front of me, but aren’t the “this isn’t real” glitches around Jacob at that point?Zach Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17905320964723323391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-39994010710910556992021-01-06T22:06:54.692-06:002021-01-06T22:06:54.692-06:00The Lump bit was actually lost on me till you ment...The Lump bit was actually lost on me till you mentioned it and I went to look it up, and I've read the original Mister Miracle comics, too. So let's get down to it: is Scott in the Lump here? Is he inside the Anti-Life Equation? <em>Is</em> any of this actually happening?collectededitionshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-64918206078534273342021-01-06T22:05:05.926-06:002021-01-06T22:05:05.926-06:00I enjoyed the Kirby originals; if I can plug, you ...I enjoyed the Kirby originals; if I can plug, you might try the Fourth World by Jack Kirby books and then <a href="https://collectededitions.blogspot.com/2008/05/review-jack-kirbys-fourth-world-omnibus.html" rel="nofollow">come here for the reviews</a>! Walt Simonson's Orion book is very popular, too, and for a real primer-primer, the upcoming Who's Who Omnibus should have some prose explanations of the New Gods, too. Cosmic Odyssey is another, shorter one that might be more easily accessible.collectededitionshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-49513707853618267582021-01-04T18:37:01.745-06:002021-01-04T18:37:01.745-06:00And even more so, I am someone who is stepped in F...And even more so, I am someone who is stepped in Fourth World and has read tons and tons of it over the years, and the book STILL didn't work for me.Jordanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13858465228077926840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-12105589928258417012021-01-04T17:01:43.768-06:002021-01-04T17:01:43.768-06:00My exposure to the Fourth World has been through t...My exposure to the Fourth World has been through the Superman/Justice League cartoons and then later through some modern comics (Darkseid War, Final Crisis, etc.). My point being that I've never read the original Kirby stuff nor did I have much appreciation for the Fourth World on it's own. Outside of Darkseid, it's just never really appealed to me.<br /><br />I decided to read Mr. Miracle because I was on a Tom King kick and it immediately became one of my favorite books. I loved every moment of it.<br /><br />I've wanted my wife to read this book, but she's had very little exposure to the characters. She kind of gets who Darkseid is, but that's about it. I don't think she would like it as much as I hope she would because of this. She has no clue who Mister Miracle, Barda, Highfather, Orion, etc. are. I had a thought awhile back of using the recent Female Furies mini-series as an introduction and I still think that might work. It's actually a pretty good introduction to the world and characters.<br /><br />Does anyone else have any good Fourth World primers? I don't think you need a deep understanding to thoroughly enjoy this book. Just a decent understanding of who the characters are, how they relate to each other, and their general motives.John Cummingsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-34570767741421950082021-01-04T10:21:54.668-06:002021-01-04T10:21:54.668-06:00You raise a really good point about this book - ho...You raise a really good point about this book - how well does it work for someone who isn't steeped in the Gospel of the Fourth World? It's my second/third favorite fictional sandbox (after Star Wars and maybe Gotham), but I didn't fully appreciate how insular it is until reading your review.<br /><br />You reminded me of a perfect case-in-point. The moment when Scott refers to the baby as "a lump" made me gasp - but my girlfriend at the time, who's never read the Kirby run, didn't understand what a game-changer that throwaway line is. Ditto the appearance of the Female Furies in the hospital waiting room - the absurd comedy of that moment only really lands if you know how incongruous the image actually is.<br /><br />All of this is to echo the popular sentiment that every comic book is someone's first. What if Mister Miracle were your first comic, let alone your first encounter with the Fourth World? I think enough of the beats still land, but the nuance might be lost. Still, I think there's so much to gain by treating comics with a "just go with it" instinct. One of my first Superman comics was from the Triangle Era in the 1990s - I had no idea who Dubbilex was, but I just ran with the idea that Superman knew a horned gray goblin who cloned newsboys underground.<br /><br />Moreover, though, how do we get to a point where EVERYONE knows who Lightray is? When does Darkseid reach cultural saturation? How do we attain a world where I don't have to explain The Lump?Zach Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17905320964723323391noreply@blogger.com