Mister Miracle #11 “The Greatest Show Off Earth!” (December 1972)



The Story: Scott spends the first six pages practicing a “don’t get dunked into a flaming cauldron” trick in the presence of Big Barda, the Female Furies, and his new manager Ted.



Doctor Bedlam returns to menace Oberon with terrifying illusions.



Bedlam’s “Animate” robots attack next. They’re driven off, but not before damaging Scott’s Mother Box.



Doctor Bedlam tricks Scott into entering a flying saucer which skips off into space and subjects him to various hazards including a meteorite swarm and the heat of re-entry.



Finally, Bedlam intends to kill Scott by crashing the flying saucer into the moon. But Scott has hidden a second Mother Box in the hood of his costume, and it prevents Bedlam from evacuating the Animate he possesses. If Scott dies, Bedlam will die too. Scott escapes to Earth, and Bedlam apparently crashes on the moon.



Lettercol: Mark Evanier explains Jack Kirby’s family at length: Wife Rosalind, three daughters Susan, Lisa, and Barbara, and son Neal whose wife Barbara (a different Barbara of course) just gave birth to Kirby’s grandson Tracy Lynn Kirby. Two writers complain about Royer’s inking being too heavy.

My Two Cents: It was fine, a bit of adventure story that could have featured any villain. The trapped flying saucer was off-theme for a mind control-themed villain like Doctor Bedlam.

Rosalind, aka Roz.  Born Rosalind Goldstein.

Mister Miracle #12 “Mystivac!” (February 1973)



The Story: Time for a holiday! The Female Furies are enjoying a day at the beach with some peeping seamen:



Ted gets Scott a gig strapped to a submarine torpedo racing towards a floating target. Naturally he escapes. Colonel Darby, the event’s sponsor, is duly impressed. Darby has made a wager with his rich friends that he can get Scott killed. Darby’s chauffeur, an ancient talking idol named Mystivac, will be the key to his victory.



Mystivac hypnotizes Scott with a message of defeatism. When Scott sets up a trap involving flying boulders, he makes no attempt to escape, and Big Barda is obliged to intervene. But he insists nothing is wrong.



Darby sets Scott up to duel Mystivac. First the idol (or is it a robot?) immobilizes Oberon and Big Barda with a word of command. Then he attacks Scott with the powers of… Wolverine? This seems like a really big deal. How did I make it this far in life without knowing this? Mystivac’s blades even make a “SNIK” sound when he unsheathes them from his knuckles.



Scott eventually defeats Mystivac and unmasks him as not an ancient idol, not a robot, but a tiny alien driving a human-sized suit. Darby shows up and tries to kill Scott, but instead the alien is killed by stray gunfire. Darby is captured, but at a price: Scott’s second Mother Box, the one inside his cowl, has been destroyed.



My Two Cents: A wacky adventure. I assume Colonel Darby was a reference to Elvis’ manager Colonel Tom Parker, who took advantage of Elvis’ celebrity at every turn for his own gain. I was hoping that Mystivac was going to turn out to be using The Power, i.e. the Anti-Life Equation, to control minds. But nope, he had nothing to do with the Fourth World. Seems like a missed opportunity. Also, his powers of hypnotism seem more up Doctor Bedlam's alley. Why doesn't Mystivac use his mental powers to dominate his master instead of allowing himself to be used for human gain?

Mister Miracle #13 “The Dictator’s Dungeon!’ (April 1973)



The Story: After Scott performs an amazing escape from the tracks of an oncoming train, his promoter Ted is unexpectedly hoisted into the air by the tractor beam of a flying saucer driven by Neanderthals wearing some amazing Devo hats. Scott and Barda get stuck to the hull as well but quickly overcome their captors.



The saucer’s autopilot takes them to an ancient temple in the Alps; Barda wears Scott’s cape to keep warm, and she looks pretty good in it. Scott and Barda are captured by Albert Von Killowitz, a Nazi engineer in hiding, wearing armor for a disguise and calling himself King Komodo. Time for a series of elaborate deathtraps!



Scott reveals a hitherto-unused power to control the minds of men. He forces King Komodo to surrender and free his prisoners. This is way too convenient a solution, and a power best forgotten before you start thinking about all the other times Scott would have used this suspiciously Anti-Life-like ability if he possessed it.



Lettercol: Steve Parker wants Lashina to show more skin. “This isn’t Playboy,” chides Steve Sherman in response. Dixie Lee Osbun writes in great detail about his well-proportioned, muscular girlfriend and requests that Kirby work her into the comic book somehow. We’ll get right on that, Dixie…

My Two Cents: The scene depicted on the cover is over in the first three pages and gives no clue what the story is really about, which turns out to be “a series of narrow escapes in quick succession.” This style characterizes the end of Kirby's run on this title.

I’m surprised the word “suicide” appears on the cover; I might have thought that topic was taboo in a product aimed at kids. Kirby may not have been aiming at kids personally, but I suspect DC was. Tom King’s recent Mister Miracle series runs with the idea that Scott Free really does want to die.



Kirby’s cultural literacy fails him when Scott Free claims that the Swastika is not an oriental symbol. In fact, the Swastika is an ancient symbol of the sun found in many cultures from Greece to India and beyond. Steve Sherman will later spin this as being Scott's mistake rather than Kirby's. Sure, why not?

Mister Miracle #14 “The Quick and the Dead!” (June/July 1973)



The Story: Scott is just minding his own business on a stroll in the forest wearing his escape costume. He happens upon the Satan Club, a squad of demon-masked men apprehending an escapee. Time for a Kirby double splash!



Scott follows them home, is hypnotized by Madame Evil Eyes, then trussed to become a sacrifice to Satan. Scott escapes from a series of deathtraps.



Madame Evil Eyes’ Satanic veneer turns out to be cover for industrial espionage, because why not? And she would have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn’t for those meddling kids Scott and Oberon!



Lettercol: The series has lost all notion of a developing story; each issue has become a series of deathtrap escapes inflicted by the villain of the month. Mike Tiefenbacher agrees with me in the lettercol; he wants to see Scott spending more time “eating, sleeping, and putting on his socks,” anything to give him character development. Maybe a crossover with The Demon or Orion?

My Two Cents: Not much to say. This particular villain has mutant powers of hypnosis.



Apparently she was modeled after Margaret Hamilton, who portrayed the Wicked Witch of the West in the film “The Wizard of Oz.”

Mister Miracle #15 “The Secret Gun!” (September 1973)



The Story: When ideas fail, It’s sidekick time! Now for the sensational character find of 1973. Young Shilo Norman comes to watch Big Barda use a giant nut-cracker on Scott. Best not think about that too much.



Shilo’s brother was recently murdered by agents of the villainous Mister Fez (Kirby passes up an opportunity to implicate Inter-Gang, from whom we haven’t heard for a long time), and now an assassin shows up at Scott’s place, lobbing a grenade at Shilo, who turns around and lobs it right back! Scott’s all-purpose mask circuitry has deactivated the grenade anyway. Still, nice reflexes, Shilo!



That night, Shilo sneaks out of Scott’s house to find his brother’s killers in the big city. His black belt in judo comes in handy when he finds what he’s looking for, but he still needs rescue by Scott and Barda when his attackers overwhelm him.



Jive-talking Mister Fez has a plan to rob a wealthy gathering with a knockout ray. He uses the ray on Scott and Barda, but they recover and destroy his device before he can shoot it at the hotel containing the soiree.



Lettercol: Mark Lucke laments the kidification of Mister Miracle into all-escapes rather than Fourth World mythology. He hopes Kirby cancels this book to work on Kamandi and The Demon, but nevertheless he pledges to keep buying Mister Miracle even though he no longer enjoys it. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what’s wrong with the comic book industry. Steve Sherman promises that somehow, somewhere, Kirby will finish the Fourth World saga. None of the letters dealt with issue #12; Sherman claims there wasn’t room. If that’s so, why is half the lettercol page taken up with panels of recycled art from New Gods and Forever People?

My Two Cents: What race is Shilo? His wavy hair suggests he's not African. Is he Central/South American, like Roberto DaCosta? Or maybe he's just doing a James Brown thing. Shilo is mad at Scott for trailing him and saving his life. Some gratitude! But he agrees to become Scott’s protégé. Adopting an orphan, eh? Looks like a family is forming. Does Big Barda live with Scott? It seems so. So does Oberon apparently, but not the Female Furies.