DC’s Future State event may be over after the end of this month, but the adventures of Mister Miracle Shilo Norman are just beginning. The publisher has announced that the character, currently starring in a series of back-up features across several Superman-related Future State titles, will receive his own six-issue solo miniseries, Mister Miracle: The Source of Freedom, starting in May. The series will be written by Brandon Easton, also the author of Shilo’s Future State stories, and illustrated by Fico Ossio. Yanick Paquette will provide the main cover for the first issue, which will also sport a variant cover by Mister Miracle’s Future State artist Valentine De Landro. No colorist or letterer for the series were named in the announcement.
Here’s how DC describes Mister Miracle: The Source of Freedom:
The “Mister Miracle” show used to be the hottest ticket in town, whether you caught him onstage escaping from perilous traps or spotted him on the streets of Metropolis taking out bad guys. What Shilo Norman forgot is the first rule of both show business and being a superhero: always leave them wanting more. Now it’s time to start showing the world what a miracle man can really do.
Showbiz/superhero rule #2: Timing is everything. There’s a new performer in town who wants to knock Mister Miracle off his pedestal and stake a claim to his famous moniker! Can Shilo break free of this trap?
Describing the series as “a de facto origin story” for the character, Easton says The Source of Freedom will Shilo Norman’s celebrity status, his relationship with the New Gods, and “what it means to be a Black superhero in a world where his heroism is in conflict with a society full of distrust and suspicion.”
Created by Jack Kirby, Shilo Norman first appeared during the original run of The King’s Mister Miracle series in the early ’70s, and became his own version of Mister Miracle during a late ’80s run of the title. The character appeared sporadically over the years following before being reintroduced in 2005 by Grant Morrison and Pasqual Ferry as part of Morrison’s Seven Soldiers storyline. The character hadn’t been seen in over a decade prior to his return during Future State.
It’s good to see DC carrying forward some of the diversity they’ve introduced during Future State, both in terms of characters and creators. Given how entertaining the Easton-written Mister Miracle backup stories have been it’ll be fun to see what the writer has in store for a slightly younger version of the character. The series will be the first DC work for Ossio, whose most high-profile work previously was the Dark Horse miniseries No One Left to Fight with writer Aubrey Sitterson.
Check out some concept art by Ossio, as well as his line art for a handful of interior pages from the first issue of the series, below. Mister Miracle: The Source of Freedom #1 (of 6) is due out in stores on Tuesday, May 4th.
