Mister Miracle , from writer Tom King and artist Mitch Gerads, has become one of DC Comics best books. The story of Scott Free, the titular hero and one of the New Gods created by legendary artist Jack Kirby, has already received rave reviews in its relatively short run.
And while the book may be titled Mister Miracle, Scott’s wife, Big Barda, is just as important a part of the book. It’s no wonder that King told me at New York Comic-Con 2017 that Scott and Barda are co-leads on the book.
What makes Mister Miracle great isn’t just the fantastic action sequences, it’s the relationship between Scott and Barda. Scott’s psyche is seemingly crumbling and Barda has been there by his side, from his attempted suicide to the death of his father. But how is Barda taking everything that’s happened in the first two issues?
“What makes their relationship interesting to me, is they went through the same trauma,” King told Player.One. “They were both children raised by Granny Goodness on Apokolips and they both have these childhoods that are full of pain and torture.”
King explains that in the first issue readers see Scott Free as a happy-go-lucky character even though they learn he was raised on “fucking literal hyper ghetto of Apokolips in the X-Pit.” Scott has put up a wall between himself and the pain of his childhood. Now, that wall is starting to collapse and it’s driving him insane.
”Barda’s wall is still there, and that’s the difference between them. She’s like ‘no, we had a fucked up childhood, so what? Let’s keep going.’ That’s her attitude, and my wife is like that. She’s a Catholic Midwesterner and she’s like ‘how do we get shit done’ and I’m like ‘No! anxiety, pain, frustration!’ and she’s ‘No dude, we need to get the kids to the park.’ [laughs].
“And that’s the difference between the two characters and that makes them very interesting. The fact that Scott is like ‘What’s the the wall between you and the pain doing to you?’ I want to explore that, explore how anxiety and pain is handled by two people who went through the same thing,” King explained.
Mister Miracle #3 is available now.
