Mister Miracle #3 “Welcome to the desert of the real” New Genesis!

By Tom King and Mitch Gerads

As the third issue of this amazing series opens the reader is met by multiple layers of story and I would argue “reality”. King and Gerads again return with a nine panel grid as the blurry panels tell a story of Orion of the New Gods torturing prisoners and executing them. I think the blurriness and distortion in the panels is a to hint to the reader that this is not “reality” or at least the “true reality”, sorry if this gets complicated, but what I believe King and Gerads are telling is a post modern tale something that Slavoj Zizek, or Jean Baudrillard would appreciate.  We as the reader are full on participates in this narrative as we sort though the multiple layers of reality looking for the “real” one or the “truth”.

Our next clue to this comes on page 6 where we encounter Scott Free who has finished telling us the terrifying Christmas story that was layered over the distortion of the first few pages as he lays sleepless in his bed next to his wife Big Barda. “It’s Dr. Bedlam Calling!” the narration box tells the reader. Dr. Bedlam for readers that are not in the know is a villain that can alter your reality with his Paranoid Pill and he also has no physical form so he can control mindless robots so he has a body. We can come back to the second power later, I want to talk about the paranoid pill. 

The paranoid pill in the past has been a pill that releases a gas that temporarily makes anyone that breathes it insane with fear and hatred. This is what I believe has happened, Scott Free is either suffering the effects of a paranoid pill or is dealing with the after effects after being under its sway multiple times. The depression and his struggles with “reality” could be PTSD type after effects from the pill.  So, as we as readers try to discover what the reality is, so to does Scott Free struggle to find his “truth” to reality.

  Our next clue happens after Scott has gotten up from bed to drink some milk in the middle of the night and is met by Forager an ally from New Genesis. Forager pleads with Scott to take up the mantel of his father, High Father and lead the forces from New Genesis because Forager’s people the bugs are being used as cannon fodder and getting slaughtered. The conversation is stopped short as another New God called Lightray shows up and disintegrates Forager, leaving Scott saying “Is it true?” and then a panel later “But was it true?” and this time the word true is bolded. The truth is what Scott is searching for and at the moment he is just as lost as the reader in the endless amounts of realities.

  

Scott’s search is then again brought to the readers attention on page 18 as he sits with his wife having dinner after one of his shows. “Sometimes I don’t know what’s real” he tells her. This time real is bolded. This again highlights that Scott does not trust his reality as the “true” or “real” one.  

The closing pages go further to support my theory of Dr. Bedlam being involved in Scott’s current search for reality. After Orion seemingly beats Scott for no reason he stands over top of Scott and removes his helmet to revel his face, saying “this is the face of god.” Again the page is a nine panel grid with distortion effects on each panel similar to the opening of the book. The effects slowly change the face from Orion’s to Dr. Bedlams for the middle of the nine panel grid and then back again to Orion.  Again, there are many levels of reality happening on this page and the reader is left with this cliffhanger of an ending.

Mister Miracle to me is by far the best book being published in monthly comics today. King is a writer operating in his prime and it is just a joy to read and think about.  

Review: Batman (2016-) #32

Batman (2016-) #32 by Tom King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Batman #32 by Tom King and Mikel Janin
This issue featured not only the conclusion of The War of Jokes and Riddles storyline, but also Selina’s answer to Bruce’s proposal of marriage, so it’s easy to say this was a highly anticipated issue and King and Janin did not disappoint.
The issue opens with a silent page in which Bruce clearly displays his frustration and despair over the events of the War between Joker and Riddler and his part in them. We as readers have been eagerly awaiting the conclusion of Bruce’s story to Selina as it is an event that he highly regrets and as we reach the apex of the story King and Janin tease it out just a little more turning that knife into the reader just a little further.
With a page turn the reader is met with a double page spread that bleeds off every edge of the pages with the victims of this war. It is another gut punch to the reader as we can start to put faces to the loss that a Joker or Riddler would cost.
After a credit page with face shots of Riddler, Joker and Batman the reader is again taken to Bruce dealing with his regrets, but now, he is being consoled by Selina. It is easy to see the tenderness that King and Janin have Bruce and Selina show towards each other. This tenderness plays at the hopefulness in most Batman readers that Bruce can find that happy ending after his tragic origins. It is this hope that King is playing with of the readers.
After this touching scene the reader is taken back into Bruce’s story of the past and the fight with Riddler and Joker. Batman beats up on the two other men for 4 pages before Riddler declares Batman the winner of this physical contest. It’s after this fight that the story really turns. Riddler reviles that he was the one behind that entire war essentially creating Kite Man and manipulating everyone involved all in an attempt to understand the Joker, “That’s a Riddle I want to solve.” He screams at Joker and Batman.
This is the climax of the entire story and unfortunately it’s not entirely clear. Usually I’m a huge fan of juxtaposition in comics, but during these pages as Riddler is explaining his entire plan, Joker is telling a knock knock joke that doesn’t relate and Batman is explaining the motivations for his actions. It took me a couple times reading to get everything clear in my head. I think it’s the joke that really just slows and complicates the story that is going on at this time and doesn’t really add anything to the story. At an emotional time in the story as Batman empathizes with Kite Man and the death of his son to his own loss, to have the story as clear as possible at this point I feel would have heightened the emotional impact.
The story again becomes clear on the next page when the reader sees a splash page of Batman and we are narrowed down to just Batman’s words, which allow the reader too gain focus of the events they are witnessing, Batman breaking his vow never to take life and then being stopped by the Joker. King has come up with an event that will ripple through Batman for a long time. Just when we thought the relationship between Batman and the Joker could not be anymore more layered, King comes up with a story that truly changes the way we look at that relationship.
As the issue wraps we are taken back to present day and Bruce and Selina discussing his actions on the day of the Joker and Riddler fight. It’s in these pages we really see what King does well, emotional introspective dialogue. The reader is taken from Bruce’s failure in that moment with the Riddler to him finding happiness with Selina. The emotional rollercoaster King takes the reader on only heightens the moment of Selina saying yes to Bruce’s proposal and I know from my perspective made me have to really choke back the tears of joy.
As this issue concludes this story it also leads to the bigger overall question I think king is asking with his Batman stories so far, can Bruce be happy? Certainly with his father’s words from the Button storyline are hitting Bruce hard and I’m sure is the reason he’s finally asked Selina, but does this mean he stops being Batman as his father wished. This reader is eagerly waiting to find out.


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