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james_desantis 's review for:

The Red King Syndrome by John Ridgway, Chuck Austen, Al Gordon, Alan Moore, Rick Veitch, Rick Bryant, Alan Davis
4.0

I think this might be my favorite story from Alan Moore.

So we have the simple story of Miracleman doing superhero things. One issue he even just comes to chit-chat with a little kid. But things take a turn when his wife is kidnapped. We then learn the original plans for Miracleman and why he was created in the first place. The next arc is the birth of Miracleman's daughter and then of course dealing with fatherhood. On top of that we get plenty of foreshadowing of the final evil to rise.

Good: Really enjoyed the stories here. From the simple one shots, to the dark multi-part series of survival and hunt. To watch Miracleman go into rage mode is both scary yet makes perfect sense. A Superman without much of a code, it's intriguing. I also thought this book was actually brave for showing natural childbirth. I mean it sounds silly now days but back when this was written and drawn, you wouldn't expect that. Least I believe so. I liked that. I also thought the raising of their new child is a interesting idea and works well so far.

Bad: Some of the new "villains" are kind of goofy and over the top. I also think the art suffers at times by being too emotional looking and coming off silly.

Overall, really good stuff. I think this series has been a great surprise and I want more. A 4 out of 5.