This morning Marvel Comics sent out a press release:
KIMOTA! In honor of the 40th anniversary of Miracleman’s groundbreaking reinvention, Marvel is proud to announce the brand-new MIRACLEMAN OMNIBUS. This extraordinary collection will house the influential work on the character from all of its legendary creators such as Alan Davis, Garry Leach, John Totleben, and more. Fans and comic book history aficionados will finally get a chance to uncover Miracleman’s origins, his incredible feats and the everyday struggles of his alter ego, freelance reporter Michael Moran, who must reconcile his life as the lesser half of a god in glorious Omnibus format. Considered one of the medium’s greatest masterpieces, Miracleman’s adventures launched a new wave of comic book storytelling and its extraordinary impact on the super hero genre is still felt to this day.
Middle-aged reporter Michael Moran always knew he was meant for something more. When an unexpected series of events leads him to reclaim his destiny, Miracleman is reborn. But Miracleman’s return threatens unravel Moran’s life. Their connections to Dr. Emil Gargunza and Project Zarathustra bring with them disturbing revelations and trigger the return of a childhood friend who, beneath his sinister smile, has become something terrifying. Pushing the concept of the super hero to its logical conclusion, MIRACLEMAN is nothing short of a revelation.
This first-ever Omnibus edition, complete with a massive trove of covers, original artwork and rare features, will include:
· Material from Warrior (1982) 1-18, 20-21
· Miracleman (1985) 1, 3, 6-16
· Marvelman Special (1984) 1
· Material from A1 (1989) 1
· All-New Miracleman Annual (2014) 1
Check out two of the direct market exclusive covers featuring artwork by Miracleman artist Garry Leach as well as artist Kevin Nowlan. Stay tuned for the reveal of the all-new main cover by comics great Alan Davis and experience the series that transformed the super hero and stands as one of the most influential works in the comic book artform in an all-new format when the MIRACLEMAN OMNIBUS arrives in September 2022.
Eagle-eyed readers will, of course, notice no mention of “The Original Writer,” a certain Alan Moore of Watchmen fame.
This follows on the heels of the release of Marvel’s Timeless #1, which they promoted with this image:
I always assumed that at some point Miracleman would be added to the Marvel Universe — Marvel and Neil Gaiman didn’t go to the time and the expense to secure the rights to the character for the sake of reprints and the eventual completion of Gaiman and Mark Buckingham’s unfinished series.
But I assumed that 1) the Marvel Universe Miracleman wouldn’t appear until after Gaiman and Buckingham had finished The Silver Age and The Dark Age, and 2) Marvel would use the character’s original name — Marvelman — for the 616 version of the character.
Marvelman himself, by the way, was a reskinned version of Fawcett Comics’ Captain Marvel (now published by DC Comics as SHAZAM!), which Moore reinvented as a much darker character.
The teaser image amuses me slightly because it reminds me of DC’s Watchmen and Doomsday Clock, the former written by Alan Moore, the latter a sequel to Moore’s Watchmen by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank.
I may pick up Timeless in trade, depending on what I hear about it, and I will definitely be getting one of the Miracleman omnibi. The unseen Alan Davis cover, probably, though I also like the Kevin Nowlan cover. I don’t need it — I have the three hardcovers Marvel published years ago of the material — but it will be nice to have in a single volume at the larger Omnibus size.
Save those pennies now! 🙂