Mister Miracle will live on as one of the best miniseries DC Comics has ever done, thanks to incredible worldbuilding, style, and storytelling in the 12-issue series. Scott Free aka Mister Miracle was masterfully reinvented for modern times. Mister Miracle writer Tom King shared Mitch Gerads' first design email for the character on Twitter, showing the character's evolution from conception to the page.
Mister Miracle was originally created by Jack Kirby, as part of his epic Fourth World Saga. Scott Free was the son of Highfather, who was traded in a peace deal between warring planets New Genesis and Apokolips. Deprived of a good life among the Gods, Free grew up in the fire pits of the hellish planet under the rule of Darkseid - where he would later escape. He would make his way to Earth, where he'd meet an escape artist named Thadeus Brown aka Mister Miracle - who Scott would eventually take up the mantle of. In King and Gerads' Mister Miracle, a suicidal Scott is reluctantly thwarted into the New Genesis/Apokolips war while dealing with his own personal demons and his growing family with Big Barda.
On Monday, King shared the first design email of Mister Miracle that he received from Gerads. The design showcases the character's subtle design modernization. Among the cool details include the idea Scott's beard would grow more disheveled over the 12-issue series, his big expressive white eyes, his different color features, as well as the message "no undies," which is honestly the right call.
The design is very close to the finished product. The only noticeable differences are some slight color variations and a more crooked cape connector. It seems Gerads got the design pretty much down besides some small, slight changes to the costume. The design is great as it honors Kirby's original look but includes some modern features. It's also a step-up from his previous modern design, which featured a much bulkier armor, that was reminiscent of Iron Man - which wasn't bad, but Gerads look fits the character much better in context of the series.
It's really cool to see the process King and Gerads went through to get Mister Miracle's look down pat in the titular series. It's some of the smaller details, like the beard, that really add to the character's depth and psyche. Besides Kirby, Gerads will go down as the artist who most helped define the character. Mister Miracle will live on in the pop culture stratosphere, as the most recent run is one of the best comics DC has ever done - it may be the most important superhero comic of the decade.