Wednesday, October 20, 2010

020

Aaaaaand a Miracleman sketch.

Mark my words - I will color this.

And I want to start a gallery that is strictly MM.
Quick History:
Miracleman was originally Marvelman - a UK ripoff of DC's Captain Marvel. It ran for years in the 50s and 60s. It was goofy and campy and he had all these sidekicks and what not. The title lapsed into obscurity until the 1980s when Warrioir magazine had Alan Moore relaunch it (I'm simplifying all the details here, but just go with it).

Moore, instead of ignoring all the goofy history with the character, did the first Superhero Deconstruction story.

Side note: Superhero Deconstruction is a storytelling technique where an older, goofier hero's origin is updating/placed into a darker context of reality. Since Moore (who did this with Swamp Thing, Watchmen, and other titles), who really invented this, it's been done to death.

MM was the first one. Moore took all the goofy history and placed it in context - making MM the most thrilling, trippy and risky comic out there. Moore posed and explored the question of what a superhero should do to the world when he's the most powerful being alive. What role/responsibilities does/should he have.

Anyways - incredible stuff. John Totleben drew the last 4 or 5 issues - where a returned villain destroys London and Miracleman ascends to a god-like status.

The stories haven't been republished since a massive legal battle began 15 years ago over who owns the rights to the stories. Marvel has announced that they now own it, but have yet announced plan to republish the 1980s stories. Here's praying they do.

And I would love, with all my might, to draw new stories.

Hence why I'm constantly drawing MM. I will keep doing so.

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