Miracleman

## First Appearance

*Marvelman* #25 (Feb. 1954)

**Miracleman**, originally known as **Marvelman**, is a superhero published originally by by L. Miller & Son, Ltd. in 1954. Created by Mick Anglo, Marvelman made his debut in *Marvelman* #25 (Feb. 1954) as a substitute for Captain Marvel, who was at the time the center of a lawsuit between DC Comics and Fawcett Comics. Marvelman, just like Fawcett's Captain Marvel, has a young alter ego named **Micky Moran**, a reporter who was gifted his atomic powers by an astrophysicist. By shouting the word "Kimota" (which is simply the word "atomic" spelled backwards), Micky was transformed into Marvelman, the mightiest man in the universe. Just like Captain Marvel and his Marvel Family, Marvelman would also have spin-off characters in Young Marvelman (whose alter ego was a teenage messenger boy named Dicky Dauntless) and Kid Marvelman (a young boy named Johnny Bates). The two would transform into Young Marvelman and Kid Marvelman simply by shouting Marvelman's name. Together, they fight a variety of threats, such as Dr. Gargunza and the hostile nation of Boromania. Despite the title's success, changes in British law allowed comics to be imported from the US. The Marvelman books were unable to compete with the foreign imports. Marvelman would continue to be published until 1963, when Miller declared bankruptcy, though by then most of the stories were simply reprints. In the 1980s, the character would be revamped into a more modern age by Alan Moore and Garry Leach in the anthology series *Warrior*. This series would reveal that most of the Marvelman Family's adventures in the Fifties were simply nothing more than stimulations in their mind. After Marvelman's name was changed due to legal issues with Marvel Comics into Miracleman, and a change of publishers to Eclipse Comics, Moore's run would conclude with Miracleman and his allies putting the Earth under their totalitarian control. Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham would continue the story with three volumes planned and several spin-offs, but Eclipse's bankruptcy would prevent Gaiman's plans for the character from being fulfilled. A legal battle would ensue over the rights to the character, with Marvel Comics eventually purchasing the rights for the character from Mick Anglo himself. The stories written by Alan Moore and "The Golden Age" volume by Neil Gaiman have been reprinted by Marvel since then, and the character was integrated into the Marvel Universe in the *Timeless* one-shot in 2021.

## Publication History

Marvelman first debuted in the comic *Marvelman* #25 (February 1954). L. Miller & Son, Ltd., who had been reprinting Captain Marvel stories in black-and-white, was forced to stop after the Captain Marvel title was discontinued due to a lawsuit from DC Comics against Fawcett Comics, alleging that Captain Marvel was a copy of their character Superman. Mick Anglo was hired to create a replacement for Captain Marvel, and thus created Marvelman, who is very similar to Captain Marvel in many ways. Like Captain Marvel, Marvelman has an alter-ego in young orphan Micky Moran, who can transform himself into Marvelman by shouting the word "Kimota", which is simply the word "atomic" spelled backwards with the c replaced with a k. While Captain Marvel has the Marvel Family, consisting of Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr., Marvelman has the Marvelman Family consisting of Young Marvelman and Kid Marvelman.

Similar to Captain Marvel's Dr. Sivana and the Sivana Family, Marvelman battled mad scientist Dr. Gargunza and sometimes his nephew Young Gargunza. There would be three titles published: *Marvelman*, *Young Marvelman*, and *Marvelman Family*. Mick Anglo would end his association with Miller in 1960, and would reprint some Marvelman stories with his name changed to Captain Miracle. Marvelman stories would be reprinted in various countries. In Brazil, for example, Marvel would be reprinted with his name changed to Jack Marvel.

While Marvelman would be popular at the time, changes in British law allowing foreign imports of comic books would hurt the Marvelman titles tremendously. Unable to compete with full-color imports, *Marvelman Family* would be the first to be cancelled. *Marvelman* and *Young Marvelman* would hang on until the Sixties, however, though by then most of the stories were just reprints. Marvelman soon faded into obscurity, as Miller filed for bankruptcy in 1963.

Dez Skinn, editor and publisher of the anthology comic *Warrior*, read an interview in *The Journal of the Society of Strip Illustrators* where a young writer named Alan Moore expressed his desire to revamp Marvelman for a more modern and darker world. Moore was offered to write Marvelman alongside V for Vendetta and The Bojeffries Saga. Garry Leach was chosen to be the artist after both Dave Gibbons and Brian Bolland declined. Leach was unable to continue working on the strip, feeling the strain of his detailed style. Thus, Alan Davis would be brought in to replace Leach. Marvel Comics objected to the name of the character, despite the fact that Marvelman was created before the company was even formally named Marvel Comics (they went by Atlas Comics back then). Bitter arguments between Moore and Skinn concerning finance would result in the series being discontinued after a cliffhanger.

The Marvelman stories from *Warrior* would be reprinted by Eclipse Comics. Marvelman would be renamed Miracleman to avoid legal conflict with Marvel Comics. Eclipse would also publish new stories from Alan Moore and various artists such as a young Chuck Austen and Rick Veitch. The story would conclude with "Olympus", drawn by John Totleben, in which Miracleman and his allies would end up ruling the world, turning the planet into a seemingly benevolent utopia. After Moore ended his run on the character, he would give his share of the copyright to the character to Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham. They were given creative freedom to tell whatever stories they wanted, and began with *The Golden Age*, which tells of the new utopia world as seen from the viewpoints of a variety of characters, from a man who loved Miraclewoman to duplicates of Andy Warhol. *The Silver Age* and *The Dark Age* were planned to be next, but Eclipse went bankrupt just as Gaiman and Buckingham were entering *The Silver Age* in 1994.

Todd McFarlane purchased Eclipse's properties for a total of $25,000, which seemingly includes the rights to Miracleman. A legal battle would ensue between McFarlane and Gaiman over who owns the rights over the property, while Miracleman's alter-ego Mike Moran would appear in *Hellspawn* #6. McFarlane would be sued by Gaiman over his unauthorised use of Miracleman and the characters he had created for Spawn. Gaiman formed Marvels and Miracles LLC in order to clear the issues of ownership over the Miracleman property. It would later be discovered, however, that Mick Anglo still retained the rights to his creation from the beginning. This means that the purchase of those rights by Dez Skinn's company Quality Communications, Eclipse Comics and McFarlane was illegitimate. Mick Anglo would later sell the rights over Miracleman to Marvel Comics, who began reprinting the series in 2014. Legal hurdles would prevent Gaiman's *The Silver Age* from being reprinted however, and the property is back in limbo until Marvel announced in 2018 that the legal hurdles have been resolved, and that *The Silver Age* would eventually be reprinted, alongside new stories by Gaiman and Buckingham. The *Timeless* one-shot published in late 2021 would feature the Miracleman logo, and Marvel eventually announced that Miracleman will appear in the Marvel Universe going forwards.

## Character Bio

Micky Moran, an orphan working as a copy boy for the Daily Bugle, was gifted the power to transform himself into Miracleman, the mightiest man in the universe, by an astrophysicist named Guntag Barghelt (alternatively spelled as Barghelm or Bargholm), who had learned the key harmonics of the universe. Miracleman would later acquire two sidekicks in Young Miracleman and Kid Miracleman, real names Dicky Dauntless and Johnny Bates respectively. Together, the three would battle evils such as Dr. Emil Gargunza and his nephew Young Gargunza, Young Nastyman, and the Boromanians as the Miracleman Family.

Their adventures were in truth nothing more than computer stimulations, however, as the three were kept unconscious as part of Project Zarathustra, a military research project. Realizing the destructive potential of the supermen, the project was terminated and Miracleman, alongside his two sidekicks, were sent into a trap wherein a nuclear device exploded, seemingly killing the three. Micky Moran and Johnny Bates survived, however, while Dicky Dauntless would perish in the explosion. Moran, now an amnesiac, build a new life for himself with his wife Liz. While covering a protest at a nuclear power plant, Moran and the other reporters were taken hostage by a terrorist group. Seeing the word atomic backwards on a glass, Moran remembered the word "Kimota" and, upon uttering the word, transformed into Miracleman once more. Miracleman's return caught the attention of Kid Miracleman, who unlike Moran retained his memories and superpowers. Kid Miracleman, however, has become corrupted by his powers, becoming a bitter sociopath. After a battle between the two, Kid Miracleman accidentaly said the word "Miracleman" and thus reverted to his alter-ego Johnny Bates, who is aware of the evil he has done as Kid Miracleman and fell into a catatonic shock.

Miracleman made his way into a secret military bunker with the help of agent Evelyn Cream, and after a brief skirmish with a new British superhero called Big Ben, discovered his origins, and learned that the man behind Project Zarathustra is none other than his nemesis Dr. Emil Gargunza, who had kidnapped his pregnant wife Liz and taken her to South America in order to transfer his consciousness into Miracleman's unborn child. Miracleman, after defeating Gargunza's Miracledog (which he created from reverse-engineering alien technology), killed Gargunza. Liz then gave birth to Winter, the first naturally-born superhuman on Earth. Another superhuman named Miraclewoman emerged, as did aliens like the Warpsmiths and the Qys. Liz, unnerved by her husband and daughter's almost godlike demeanor, divorced Moran. Heartbroken, Moran decided to transform into Miracleman permanently.

Johnny Bates, who had been living at a group home, was mercilessly bullied by a group of older boys. Johnny transformed into Kid Miracleman when one of them tried to rape him, and Kid Miracleman went on a rampage in London. Realizing what had happened, Miracleman and Miraclewoman alongside the Warpsmiths battle Bates. Aza Chorn, one of the Warpsmiths, was killed after teleporting some wreckage into Kid Miracleman's body, forcing him to transform into his mortal form to ease the pain. Miracleman kills Johnny Bates, but London is completely destroyed with corpses strewn around the wreckage.

Miracleman and his allies then brings planet Earth under their totalitarian control, ruling the planet as they see fit. This new age of miracles would bring a seemingly benevolent utopia, but Liz refused to see Miracleman again, believing that he had lost his humanity. Miracleman sat in Aza Chorn Memorial Park, pondering if he has done the right thing.

## Powers/Abilities

* **Superhuman Strength:** Miracleman can lift well over 100 tons
* **Invulnerability**
* **Superhuman Stamina**
* **Superhuman Speed**
* **Self-Propelled Flight**
* **Superhuman Senses**
* **Longevity**
* **Force Fields**
* **Concussive Energy Blasts:** Miracleman has the potential to gain greater energy manipulation powers.
* **Telepathy**
* **Telekinesis**

Miracleman's powers will steadily get stronger and more powerful over time.