Kimota! The Miracleman Companion

by George Khoury (Editor), Alan Moore (Contributor)

In 1982, British superhero Marvelman—previously a mere Captain "Shazam!" Marvel knock-off—was resurrected by then-unknown writer Alan Moore in the pages of Warrior magazine under the premise "What if a superpowered human lived in today's world?" The series was an immediate success, establishing Moore as the most important writer to emerge in the field.

By 1985, the character was introduced to American readers under the name of Miracleman and the title was recognized as one of the finest of its genre and an astonishing piece of graphic fiction in its own right. Along with acclaimed writer Neil Gaiman and a host of excellent artists, Moore produced what is widely considered to be the best superhero story ever written.

Kimota!: The Miracleman Companion tells all the behind-the-scenes stories during its short run at Eclipse Comics and why the final Neil Gaiman-scripted issue was never released, including interviews with Alan Moore, John Totleben, Neil Gaiman, Mark Buckingham, Barry Windsor-Smith, Beau Smith, Cat Yronwode, Rick Veitch, and others along with unpublished art, uninked pencils, sketches, & concept drawings (including unseen art from the never-published issue #25) by Totleben, Windsor-Smith, Buckingham, Mike Deodato, Jim Lee, as well as a never-published 8-page Moore/Totleben story and an unused Moore script!

Genres: Comics, Nonfiction, History, Graphic Novels Comics, Graphic Novels

143 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2001

About the author

George Khoury has written and edited the Eisner-nominated Kimota!, The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore, True Brit, and Comic Book Fever. He served as senior editor to the award-winning Comic Book Artist magazine and as a regular contributor to the popular Modern Masters series. In the last 20 years, he's been a freelance writer for magazines, newspapers, and internet.

Reviews

[Sol · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comprehensive (before Marvel bought him, anyhow) and indispensable guide to the context, history, power struggles, legal actions and more behind the Miracleman/Marvelman comic. There are interviews with almost everyone involved in the creation of the modern incarnation of Miracleman, including writers, artists and editors, as well as with his original creator. Miracleman's publication history is famously torturous, and there are a lot of lines of tension easily visible between the perspectives of the different interviewees. Of special note is the Neil Gaiman interview, which gives a brief summary of what the future of the series would have been, as well as some unfinished pages from the uncompleted 25th issue. Miracleman is still not complete as 2018 closes out, despite complete purchase by Marvel and Gaiman's apparent interest in finishing the story. I dearly hope the series will one day be completed, but as the years since Marvel's acquisition and rereleases slide by, I become less and less hopeful.

[Keith Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of Marvelman/Miracleman could be used to teach the difference between copyright and trademark. This is a crazy complicated legal mess that is getting more complicated as the years go by.

[Taylor Cayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

An invaluable companion book for anyone fascinated with the history of Marvelman/Miracleman (a niche field, admittedly). This book offers many insightful interviews with creators and editors involved with the book. Even 20 years later it shines a lot of light on what was going on behind the scenes.

[Hugo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost out of date as soon as it was published, but a decent overview of the first half of the ongoing Miracleman debacle, with an excellent and apt range of interviewees.

[Dominick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting overview of the Miracleman comic book, consisting mostly of interviews with various involved parties. I'd have preferred more textual analysis and more commentary, especially on thorny issues like the ownership of the character, but the book is more fannish than analytical.

[Arthur Blotner]

[was only ever paperback by 2013]

[Todd Glaeser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wanted to re-read this before the omnibus comes out in September.

[Variaciones Enrojo]

Libro sobre Marvelman con algunos aportes a cargo de sus autores.

[Wesley A. Vermillion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

[Francisco Becerra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect companion about one of the greatest and underrated comic sagas.