Many New Gods lovers would probably agree that DC has never seemed entirely sure of how to handle this epic, ambitious franchise without Jack Kirby steering the ship. Yes, there have been some great stories featuring the heroes and villains of the Fourth World since Kirby passed away, but this often feels like a saga with no real destination in mind. Even when Grant Morrison gave the Fourth World the finale it deserved in Final Crisis, DC merely brought these characters back to square one with the New 52 reboot. So perhaps the best thing that can be said for Tom King and Mitch Gerads' Mister Miracle is that it's the first comic since Final Crisis to feel like a worthy successor to Kirby's work, and the first to truly push these characters in a new and intriguing direction.

Not that this should come as a surprise to anyone familiar with King and Gerads' work at this point. Between The Sheriff of Babylon and their two Batman issues, they've cemented their status as one of the finest creative teams in comics right now. Mister Miracle is also cut from the same cloth as King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta's Vision in that it's a moody story aimed at exploring the torturous private world of a larger-then-life hero. Right off the bat, this series distinguishes itself by showcasing a very flawed, very human side to this New God. It marries the fantastical tone and imagery of the classic New Gods comics with a grounded look at a superhero couple in crisis.As refined as King's prose and dialogue are, this series wouldn't function nearly as well as it does without Gerads. Gerads is an extremely versatile artist, a trait that comes in very handy for a book that aims to blend the cosmic grandeur of the Fourth World with intimate character drama and a subtle psychological horror. Gerads captures the power and vivid color of the classic Kirby designs where appropriate, but he's just as happy rendering characters like Scott Free and Barda as plain, unassuming civilians marked by grungy textures and washed-out colors. The spectacle of this series is generally relegated to the background, allowing Gerads to focus his energy on the pain (both physical and mental) afflicting Scott and his wife.This issue features a great number of visual flourishes that enhance the overall experience. At times, Gerads breaks into Kirby-inspired moments of superhero extravagance, complete with Ben-Day dots and all the eye-popping color one could ask for. In other cases, characters are marked by strips of fading yellow tape, creating both the sensation that we're reading an unfinished comic in the midst of production and the nagging sense that the reality of this story isn't meant to be taken at face value. That latter quality is further enhanced by a sequence where Mister Miracle appears on television and the "screen" is regularly marred by distortion and static.Mister Miracle is also the latest King-penned book to make use of the iconic nine-panel grid layouts so closely associated with Watchmen. Clearly, it's a format King enjoys a great deal, and it's one that plays well with his emphasis on repetition and slow build-up in his scripts. This issue features an added wrinkle in the form of a recurring "Darkseid is." motif that crops up more and more as the story progresses. This motif adds a terrific sense of foreboding to the book (more than any actual appearance of Darkseid could probably achieve), and it's a reminder of how much letterer Clayton Cowles is bringing to the table, as well. Cowles shows an impressive versatility of his own as he joins with Gerads in merging the old-school New Gods spectacle with the grimy, unsettling story being told here.