Recently I read a meme on Facebook that was talking about how if you call yourself a “geek” and like Superheroes/graphic novel/comics, but have a problem with Captain America being black, or Ms. Marvel Muslim, or Thor a woman, then you are not a “real geek” but a racist. Controversial statement to follow.
I have a problem. Not because they are black or Muslim, or female, but because to me, it feels lazy. The “we need diversity” is good and we should make it happen, but to me, it feels like “okay we have the suit, give it a nip and tuck, and boom! look how great we are! We’re diverse.” I want an original story. I do not want Thor female; I want a female-kick-butt-goddess. I do not want Ms. Marvel to be if Mr. Fantastic and Captain Marvel had a superhero, I want something unique to a person of the Muslim faith. Please let Captain American rest and give a new character a chance to make good without the baggage. And I feel that Mister Miracle: The Great Escape by Varian Johnson has done that.
We have a superhero story that fits into the superhero arc, but it is about an everyday kid and the world that wants to put him down. Kill him, even. The story has familiar elements of the origin story (orphaned, has a found family, is a teen troublemaker, there are bullies, and some big secrets), but also, we start on a planet unfamiliar, and the events are not with another character first. Yes, the characters are familiar (teenagers in a boarding school), but they are not your usual “misfits” (still, you know these kids). The bullies have a few plot holes (a character is mentioned that we do not see, and is introduced a bit roughly) but overall, everything works. Science fiction, family and friendship all comes together. I would say this is good for a reluctant reader, at least aged 10 and up (more for concepts than content, but there is some content) with the stronger reader enjoying, too.
And Daniel Isles shows us all of this in a way that is both funny, charming, and shows the punches in the gut (literally at times) the story gives us. The images are traditional comic graphic novel, with the details to move things are long in a supporting role.
I neither love nor like the characters, but I want to know them. I want to follow them and learn who they are and why they are the way they are. I want to learn about their class system, the backstories, and if they find Earth, where/when in history are they.