Marvelman at Quality Communications (1982–1984) When planning
Warrior, editor
Dez Skinn planned a similar set of content to his work with
Marvel UK, and identified the need for the comic to have a superhero strip. Having read
Marvelman as a child and having encountered
Mick Anglo earlier in his career, Alan Moore had also read
Marvelman as a child before discovering
DC Comics. However, as a teenager he found some of the
Marvelman annuals while holidaying in
Great Yarmouth, and enjoyed them more than he had expected. Also influenced by reading
Harvey Kurtzman's
Mad spoof "
Superduperman", he was fascinated by the idea of what had happened to the fictional character in the meantime. Moore provided a detailed proposal for a revival that updated the story to present times; Moore even suggested that should the idea to revive Marvelman be abortive most of it would be salvageable as "a pastiche character called Miracle Man". The first 6-page episode appeared in the first issue of
Warrior (dated March 1982) For the fourth issue, branded as the
Warrior Summer Special, the story suddenly jumped forward three years in a story that hinted at the future plans for the combined universe. Artist
Mick Austin provided painted covers of the character for two issues, the first of which would later receive an Eagle Award. Nevertheless, Leach's workload as art director for the magazine and artist on
Marvelman proved too great. This conceit allowed reprints of material from
Marvelman,
Young Marvelman and
Marvelman Family to be printed without disrupting continuity, as well as a
Big Ben strip previously created by Skinn (who was credited under the pseudonym Edgar Henry) and artist
Ian Gibson, the character having appeared as a guest in the
Marvelman strip. After
Warrior #21, Marvelman disappeared from the title partway through the second 'book' "The Red King Syndrome". Skinn would publicly blame this on
Marvel Comics taking legal action over the titling of the
Marvelman Special. However the truth was that Moore and Davis had fallen out and due to the ownership structure of the property it could not be continued without the approval of both. and promoted as
Marvelman. However to avoid any further legal action the title was retitled
Miracleman, with the characters renamed accordingly; previewing the series in
Amazing Heroes, Eclipse editor-in-chief
Cat Yronwode suggested she had considered a write-in campaign to name the hero. The renaming seems to have taken place independently from "Miracleman" having been among the working names for the character considered by Anglo and Miller, It was in fact suggested by Moore as an alternate name during his original
Warrior proposal should Skinn had ultimately decided on a fresh work instead of resurrecting Marvelman, and he had used it for an analogue of the character briefly featured in his work on
Marvel UK's
Captain Britain strip.
Reprints The bi-monthly
Miracleman title began in August 1985 by reprinting the extant
Warrior material, resized from UK magazine size to US comic book format and edited by Yronwode. Book One had been completed in
Warrior previously but underwent modification before publication by Eclipse; the material was colourised by
Ron Courtney, and initially the format allowed multiple
Warrior episodes to be reprinted in a single issue, initially priced at 75¢ - at the time the cheapest price a full-colour direct-sales only ongoing comic had been published with. All references to "Marvelman" and its derivatives were modified to "Miracleman". As the American title was a standard 36 pages at this stage the strip contents were entirely Miracleman material, meaning three chapters per issue. As a result, Moore took the opportunity to insert a prelude in
Miracleman #1 - a modified, colourised
L. Miller & Son strip called "Marvelman Family and the Invaders from the Future".(slightly modified from the similar piece that had appeared in the first issue of
Warrior Miracleman #2 also debuted the title's letters page, named "Miracle Mail", that would act as a forum for the series and its stories, and was initially answered by Yronwode herself. New covers were also commissioned, featuring work from notable artists such as
Howard Chaykin,
Jim Starlin and
Paul Gulacy. he reminded readers again to buy it before the second issue appeared.
Miracleman went on to win 'Best New Series' at the 1986
Kirby Awards;
Miracleman #1 was also nominated as 'Best Single Issue', but lost to
Daredevil #227.
New material After the
Warrior material ran out new stories by Moore appeared from
Miracleman #6 that broadly retained many of the plans established in the Quality proposals and chronology; for example, the writer has recalled discussing the planned realistic depiction of Miracleman's daughter Winter with Skinn before the strip stalled. However, other aspects evolved as Moore grew as a writer. and character art he produced featured in #3's letters page. From issue 7 Eclipse increased the price of the title to 95¢, the 75¢ price having been unsustainable despite respectable sales. Austen completed all of the following issue, which was split into two chapters to preserve continuity of the format with previous work. Reception continued to be strong, with R.A. Jones praising the first six issues at length - noting that the revisionist story "will not spell the death of the superhero, but it will show that there are no limits to what can be done by the genre - save those imposed by our too-small minds.". However soon after the series hit the first of what would be a number of delays, as Eclipse's offices flooded. As a result,
Miracleman #7 was delayed and #8 - instead of featuring the birth of Miracleman's daughter as announced in the previous issue -would instead consist of two modified Mick Anglo-era strips and a preview for the unrelated Eclipse series
The New Wave, wrapped by a self-referential framing sequence created by and featuring Yronwode and Austen. While the framing sequence mocked Marvel's former practice of running reprints, critic R.A. Jones would note that this honestly would have been more convincing if it had been on the cover, instead of only revealed in the interior. this was because the artist - not on speaking terms with Moore at the time - had not given permission; Eclipse went ahead and printed his work anyway and according to Davis made little attempt to pay him for doing so. As Moore's scripts would typically require very little editing and he still lived in
England at the time he largely avoided interacting with Yronwode for the rest of the writer's run on the title. Austen was replaced by
Rick Veitch from
Miracleman #9. Veitch was a fan of the series, crediting it as an influence on his own revisionist superhero story
The One. The cover bore a warning due to featuring "graphic scenes of childbirth" as it saw the delivery of Miracleman and Liz's daughter Winter. but would later note this was mainly in
fanzines. The following issue concluded Book Two with a number of teasers for Book Three, with the art again from Veitch. Both issues also saw a format change, with a single 16-page chapter of
Miracleman and a back-up strip - initially fellow
Warrior alumni
Laser Eraser and Pressbutton.
Olympus For the third arc, Moore wanted a single artist to illustrate the work - feeling that while all of the artists on Book Two had been capable the chopping and changing had left the story with an "uncertain" tone. Moore had considered quitting the title after the end of Book Two after Yronwode and Mullaney berated his then-wife Phyllis over the phone over deadlines, but ultimately decided to stay on due to the opportunity to link up with Totleben again. Totleben's work on
Miracleman would subsequently be shortlisted for the 1988
Eisner Awards and received praise from Andy Mangels of
Amazing Heroes due to being "incredibly richly textured", with the writer placing
Miracleman 6th on his list of the 20 best comics then in publication. While the narrative broadly followed the plans Moore had originally mapped out during the
Warrior days both his own growth as a writer and the opportunity of collaborating with Totleben saw the story evolve considerably. Virginia Williams-Pennick praised the issue's realism in
Amazing Heroes, noting that "The atrocities perpetrated on innocent humans by Bates are nightmarish in the extreme".
Thomas Yeates would provide uncredited assistance to Totleben for a few panels of
Miracleman #16, The series itself meanwhile was nominated for Best Continuing Series at the 1991 Eisners, as was Moore's writing.
Miracleman Family In 1988 Eclipse produced a two-issue limited series entirely made up of reprints named
Miracleman Family, with the issues dated May and September 1988. Due to the technology of the time, Eclipse were restricted to reprinting material they could find physical copies of. The series presented tales originally printed in
Marvelman,
Young Marvelman and
Marvelman Family, relettered by
Wayne Truman to update the names, and coloured by
Olyoptics and
Marcus David. While initially intimidated by following Moore, Gaiman was swift to see the story possibilities presented by the apparent utopia. Gaiman chose artist
Mark Buckingham as a collaborator after being impressed with his work for
Heartbreak Hotel; he initially considered
Dave McKean, who would instead provide covers for the first "book" of six issues. The writer planned three arcs for the series -
The Golden Age,
The Silver Age and
The Dark Age, which he loosely mapped out. However, Jeffrey Lang praised
Miracleman #17, and felt it was unclear if the Golden Age appellation was ironic, while T.M. Maple lauded Gaiman's characterisation in
Miracleman #20. The series was again shortlisted for the 1992 Eisners as 'Best Continuing Series', while Gaiman was recognised as 'Best Writer' for his work on
Miracleman combined with
The Sandman and
The Books of Magic. The title remained one of Eclipse's strongest sellers and, with the company's fortunes dipping, they attempted to find a way to increase the output while not alienating the creative team, who had veto on any material featuring the character. The first attempt to make extra revenue was
Miracleman: Apocrypha. The first issue of Gaiman and Buckingham's second arc appeared some ten months after the conclusion of
The Golden Age, in June 1992. The arc was planned to revolve around the revived
Young Miracleman and his reaction to his old friend's new world, examining Miracleman's doubts about his actions and
Miraclewoman's judgement. The next issue didn't arrive until over a year later; Only two issues of "The Silver Age" had been printed; a third was ready but due to their dire finances Eclipse were unable to find a printer who would provide them with the credit needed to actually get the comic produced. Worried by Mullaney's erratic behaviour at the time, Yronwode returned the artwork to Gaiman. "The Dark Age" was originally planned to take place "three or four hundred years" after the events of the Silver Age, featuring the apparent return of Mike Moran to a world long abandoned by superhumans, and feature Kid Miracleman. Legal disputes over the ownership of the character, based on the misconception that Mick Anglo had sold the rights to Dez Skinn, which never occurred, left the title out of print, leading to back issues and trade paperbacks of the series greatly increasing in price in the collector's market.
Marvelman and Miracleman at Marvel Comics (2010–present) In 2009 it came to light that Anglo had in fact held ownership of Marvelman since 1954. This was followed by the six-issue limited series ''Marvelman: Family's Finest'', reprinting restored versions of Anglo's strips from
Marvelman,
Young Marvelman and
Marvelman Family. Cover art was produced by
Marko Djurdjević and others (with many drawn from the
Classic Primer), with one a modified version of Anglo's 1954 cover to
Marvelman #33. That the contents were the older material rather than the 1980s revival received a mixed reaction. The series was collected as a trade paperback while two archives apiece of
Marvelman Classic and
Young Marvelman Classic were released. no further volumes of either
Classic title have been released since 2012, with sales of the hardcovers having been poor - dropping below 300 copies apiece. Quesada would attribute the delay to wanting to "do it right", including acquiring original artwork and high-quality
Photostats for restoration. Others have noted other potential factors, including ongoing uncertainty over who owned the 'Miracleman trademark (speculated to have actually been owned by McFarlane) and negotiations with Moore over the permission Marvel needed to reprint his work. and at
New York Comic Con 2013 announced the reprints and eventual continuation would use this name, contrary to previous proclamations. A wide array of notable comic artists would provide cover art for the series, including
Art Adams,
John Cassaday,
Dave Gibbons,
Adi Granov,
Bryan Hitch,
J. G. Jones,
Alex Maleev,
Humberto Ramos,
Alex Ross,
Bill Sienkiewicz,
Leinil Francis Yu and Quesada himself, as well as new pieces by
Garry Leach,
Alan Davis,
John Totleben and Buckingham. The original artwork was restored by Michael Kelleher and his Kellustration company, coloured by
Steve Oliff and relettered by
Chris Eliopoulos for the first issue, with Joe Caramanga subsequently taking over from the latter.
Miracleman #1 was released on 15 January 2014, and contained updated versions of the first two
Warrior episodes; a modified vintage strip used as a prelude in the Eclipse series; a trio of restored, unmodified Gower Street Studios strips (including Marvelman's debut appearances); "Miracleman - Behind the Scenes", featuring associated work by
Garry Leach; one of Conroy's articles and excerpts from Quesada meeting Anglo in 2010 (both originally from
Marvelman Classic Primer). The online version of #1 also featured edited art for the digital version to cover Liz Moran's
buttocks The first issue was a commercial success; according to
Diamond Comic Distributors,
Miracleman #1 was the 23rd best selling comic book in January 2014. Reception to the first issue was largely positive, though some felt the supplemental material did little to justify the book's price Corey Schroeder of
Comic Vine gave
Miracleman #1 a grade of 4 out of 5 stars, saying, "This issue really defines a “mixed bag” in terms of what you get. On the one hand, it's very cool to see the original stories and, for me, very, very fascinating peering behind the curtain at exactly what went on behind the scenes with this character (the interview with Anglo by Joe Quesada is especially interesting, especially since very little of it focuses on the comic and a great deal focuses on the man himself) but I could see someone who couldn't care less feeling like they're paying extra for nothing. Buyer beware, in that case, but the core story here is as rock solid and resonant now as it was thirty years ago." Jesse Schedeen of
IGN gave
Miracleman #1 a grade of 7 out of 10, writing, "As long as you don't come into
Miracleman immediately expecting the same caliber of work from Moore that he delivered on Watchmen or Swamp Thing, you'll find a thoughtful, intelligent look at a once-campy superhero. It's just a shame that Marvel insisted on cramming the issue with supplemental content and driving up the price accordingly. Wait for the trade, perhaps, but don't miss this chance to finally experience a classic." The rest of Book One followed in
Miracleman #2-4; among the included extra material was the first colour versions of the future-set story "The Yesterday Gambit" (originally printed in
Warrior #4 and skipped by Eclipse), "Saturday Morning Pictures" (the framing sequence for the 1984
Marvelman Special), and coloured versions of Leach's
Warpsmith strips, also originally produced for
Warrior. In September 2014, the first new Miracleman material under the Marvel Comics banner was announced.
All-New Miracleman Annual featured a 'lost' story that was written in the 1980s and pitched to
Warrior unsuccessfully by
Grant Morrison, now drawn by Quesada; it was joined by a brand new story by
Peter Milligan and
Mike Allred. According to
Diamond Comic Distributors,
All-New Miracleman Annual #1 was the 118th best selling comic book in December 2014. Michael Brown of
ComicBook.com called
All-New Miracleman Annual #1 a "more-than-worthy addition to the Miracleman tale"; however, Greg McElhatton of
Comic Book Resources noted "I wish "All-New Miracleman Annual" #1 was better, but if anything, it's just a sharp reminder that Gaiman's success writing "Miracleman" post-Alan Moore is that much more of an impressive feat. It looks gorgeous but, considering the "All-New" part of the title, these stories have scripts that feel old and somewhat stale.". The second book was reprinted in the same format in
Miracleman issues #5-10, with backmatter including more Anglo-era strips; original artwork for many of the pages contributed by
Alan Davis,
Chuck Austen and
Rick Veitch; and a recoloured version of the framing sequence produced by Austen and
Cat Yronwode for Eclipse's
Miracleman #8. Critical reception continued to be positive, with Michael Brown noting that he "was running out of ways to keep saying how good this series is". Updated versions of the third book - completing Moore's run - were printed in
Miracleman #11-16, with the contents now corresponding directly to the respective Eclipse issues. Artist
John Totleben provided new covers for the reprinted issues and also contributed a large amount of original artwork and sketches to the "Miracleman - Behind the Scenes" sections, which were again joined by Anglo reprints. The latter were dropped for #16, due to the final chapter of
Olympus being double-length.
Kid Miracleman's use of a derogatory slur in
Miracleman issue #15 was intentionally not fully spelled-out in Marvel's updated version.
Miracleman by Gaiman & Buckingham The series was retitled
Miracleman by Gaiman & Buckingham in 2015, in preparation for the reprinting and continuation the pair's run, and reset with a new #1. Buckingham and collaborator
D'Israeli refreshed the artwork. The story content again matched with the corresponding Eclipse issues, while the abundant sketches and artwork Buckingham provided saw the Anglo reprints dropped in favour of extended versions of "Miracleman: Behind the Scenes".
Timeless and the Marvel Universe On 29 December 2021, the
Timeless one-shot was released, featuring the Miracleman "MM" logo on the final page. Later announcements by Marvel confirmed that Miracleman would appear in the Marvel universe going forward. For the one-shot's third printing in February 2022, Buckingham produced a cover prominently featuring the character
40th Anniversary As part of a 2022 celebration marking the 40th anniversary of the character's revival in the pages of
Warrior, Marvel issued
Miracleman Omnibus (containing the entire Alan Moore run, though he was once again credited as The Original Writer) and a fresh collected edition of
Miracleman: The Golden Age. Marvel also released
Miracleman #0, featuring a framing sequence by Gaiman & Buckingham (modified from that of
Miracleman: Apocrypha), and containing new stories "Blood on the Snow" (by
Ryan Stegman), "Whisper in the Dark" (by
Mike Carey and
Paul Davidson), "Kimota's Miracle" (by
Peach Momoko and
Zack Davisson) and "The Man Whose Dreams Were Miracles" (by
Jason Aaron and
Leinil Francis Yu), as well as a pin-up and short cartoons by
Ty Templeton. As with
Apocrypha these stories were established to be fictions from the Miracleman universe. Reception to the new material was largely positive, though some noted that working knowledge of the character was required for the work to be fully appreciated. According to
ICv2,
Miracleman #0 was the 19th best selling comic book in October 2022.
Miracleman by Gaiman & Buckingham: The Silver Age Marvel originally announced that the long-anticipated
Silver Age storyline would continue in 2016 following publication of
The Golden Age; however solicitations were cancelled when the decision was taken to comprehensively re-draw the extant material before proceeding with the rest of the story, as revealed by senior editor
Nick Lowe at the 2017
San Diego Comic-Con. At the following year's SDCC Marvel used a retailer-only event to announced legal hurdles causing the cancellation had been resolved and the new series was supposed to begin publication in 2019 with the previously announced creative team of Gaiman and Buckingham on board. On 24 June 2022, Marvel Comics announced that Gaiman and Buckingham would complete
Miracleman: The Silver Age, beginning in October of the same year. Buckingham noted "Neil and I have had these stories in our heads since 1989 so it is amazing to finally be on the verge of sharing them with our readers.".
Miracleman by Gaiman & Buckingham: The Silver Age #1 finally entered publication in October 22, with the first two issues updating the two instalments previously printed by Eclipse. While the material followed the same script, Buckingham recomposed and redrew many of the panels, and D'Israeli was replaced as colourist by
Jordie Bellaire. David Harth of
Comic Book Resources ranked
Miracleman: The Silver Age #1 2nd in their "10 Best Marvel Comics Of 2022" list, writing, "Marvel's best books are must-reads for any fan, and that goes doubly for
Miracleman: The Silver Age, by writer Neil Gaiman and artist Mark Buckingham. Miracleman fans have waited decades for this book, and it's impressed as much as anyone would have imagined. Gaiman and Buckingham finally finishing their Miracleman story is a wish come true. The book takes place in the early 2000s, with Miracleman having run the world for almost twenty years. A new generation of superhumans has risen and Miracleman's scientists are able to bring Young Miracleman to life. He awakens to a world unlike anything he imagined. It's an amazing book, already shaping up to be a classic." The third issue containing the first finished publication of the next part (several pages of pencilled had been used with Gaiman and Buckingham's permission in George Khoury's 2001 non-fiction book
Kimota! The Miracleman Companion). Buckingham was credited as co-writer of #4 to issue #7, which also featured a newly coloured reprint of a strip from Anglo's
Young Marvelman #57 via the device of Miracleman reviewing a recording of one of the dreams induced for the Miracleman Family by Gargunza. Variant covers were once again commissioned from a host of feted artists, including
Phil Jimenez,
Chris Sprouse,
Steve McNiven and
David Aja Marvel released the digital comic
Who is Miracleman? as part of their
Infinity Comics Who is...? range on 8 February 2023, written by
Ram V and illustrated by
Leonard Kirk. Marvel stated that they "have no new books forthcoming from [Neil Gaiman]" in January 2025 after news outlets published sexual assault accusations against him and Marvel's Executive Editor and Senior Vice President Tom Brevoort said in February 2025 that "nothing is going on with THE DARK AGE," effectively putting the run back on pause. ==Plot==