Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Marvel Comics | Tagged: barsnley, Mark Buckingham, marvel, miracleman, neil gaiman

Everything We Knew About Young Miracleman Was A Lie (Spoilers)

Miracleman was one of the first "everything you knew was a lie" retcons in superhero comic books, that Alan Moore would follow with, in Swamp Thing.

Published Wed, 10 May 2023 10:03:11 -0500

by Rich Johnston

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Miracleman was one of the first "everything you knew was a lie" retcons in superhero comic books, that Alan Moore would follow with, in Swamp Thing. Taking a familiar character and revealing their origin was a fabrication, the truth being far deeper and darker. So, as Marvelman, we learned that all the stories of the fifties were invented by their creator, Gaguanza, as a way to explain the superpowers that the Marvelman Family had gained, and their life together. Mike Moran, Johnny Bates and Dickie Dauntless, all kidnapped and experimented upon by Gaguanza and government.

As a result of legal issues in the USA and the cancellation of the Captain Marvel books in Americs, British publisher L. Miller & Son's reprint title Captain Marvel Jr #24 revealed that Freddy Freeman had decided to retire, with his place being taken by Dicky Dauntless as Young Marvelman. Billy Batson had become Mike Moran in the Captian Marvel book which became Marvelman. His name, Dickie Dauntless, was a little more "on the nose" than Moran and Bates.

And in the new Miracleman series, that has been picked up, suggesting that his history is even more hidden than Garguanza's machinations may have suggested. That he has another name, another history, and a truth yet to be told.

And he has had dreams of joy, from the most evil man of all. And now Joy House, a place he may have lived, and as an orphan (or at least that's the story) an orphanage. And in this transformed Miracleworld, England can be anything.

Barnsley in South Yorkshire is about forty miles from where I grew up. And while I'll know the bustling modern town centre, and the football team, there are indeed the villages, pubs and churches that surround it. and it feels so strange for Barnsley to just turn up in a Marvel comic book. A new comic book store, Red Robot opened up there last year, I hope they ordered plenty of copies.

Arkwright, if helps, was the fictitious owner of a small grocer's shop in the seventies/eighties BBC sitcom Open All Hours starring Ronnie Barker and David Jason, set in Balby, a suburb of Doncaster, just seventeen miles from Barnsley.

The flat caps, the scarves, in the Miracleworld this Barnsley village has become an idealised mythical version of itself as well. The truth, however, is out there…

… and it's never going to be what you thought.

MIRACLEMAN SILVER AGE #5
MARVEL COMICS
DEC220764
(W) Neil Gaiman (A/CA) Mark Buckingham
Miracleman continues his search for Dickie Dauntless, A.K.A.. Young Miracleman. As we learn more about Miracleman's forgotten past, we see that he could use all the help he can get. But will he accept it? Mature In Shops: May 10, 2023 SRP: $4.99

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