For fans of the old superhero Miracleman, the last several years have been tumultuous. Created in 1954 by Mick Anglo and originally named Marvelman, the character’s been lost to time, even after his rights were eventually sold to Marvel back in 2009. It wasn’t clear if or when he’d return to the comics space, but this week’s Timeless #1 concluded with the shocking tease that Michael Moran would be making his way to the Marvel Universe in some fashion.
But before that can happen, Miracleman needs to come back into the public eye. Hence the Miracleman Omnibus, a greatest hits collection meant to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the hero’s rather reboot from writer Alan Moore. Moore’s tenure on the character was noted for its deconstructionist take at a time when the concept was starting to take off, and now all of it is being collected. That includes both his 1982 and 1985 runs with artists such as Alan Davis, Garry Leach, and John Totleben, to material from 1989's A1 Sketchbook and the 1984 Marvelman Special. The only non-Moore work, it seems, comes from 2014: Grant Morrison and Joe Quesada’s All-New Miracleman one-shot that hit at the very end of 2014.
Miracleman’s been a tricky character for Marvel ever since they acquired his rights. The long legal battle involving Gaiman and Image’s Todd McFarlane for the character’s rights meant his star power fizzled over time, and when Marvel were able to reprint the comics from Moore and Gaiman’s runs, it took years for those collections to be released. In 2013, Gaiman and artist Mark Buckingham were given the opportunity to pick up where their 1990s run ended...but those plans quietly went away.
What future awaits Miracleman after that Timeless tease? It’s unclear, but for fans of the character, hopefully this omnibus will get that ball rolling again when it releases in September of this year.
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