What you can learn about love and self-care from Tom King’s Mister Miracle

by Ade Magnaye / June 28, 2019

Don’t forget self-care, and don’t be ashamed to seek professional help.

If you think comics are for kids, or if you’re burnt out on superhero stuff, you need to pick up Tom King and Mitch Gerads’ Mister Miracle. Sure, this is a comic all about fantastic alternate dimensions and worlds, superheroes, alien races, and epic wars. But it’s also a very deeply personal story that talks about personal demons and how to get past them.

(Trigger warning: This article discusses topics such as self-harm, physical and emotional abuse, violence and depression.)

In the very first issue is a horrible sight: Mister Miracle himself, Scott Free, in his bathroom, wrists slashed open by his own hand. We don’t know why he did it. The next few pages are a blur of the weeks and months of his recovery, from the eyes of his wife, Big Barda. We see how this makes life difficult for him, Barda, and their marriage.

Those opening pages tell you that Mister Miracle will not be easy to read.

1. Who Is Mister Miracle?

Created by Jack Kirby in 1971, Mister Miracle comes from the Fourth World. Scott Free is the son of the Highfather, the all-knowing god of New Genesis, a planet locked in eternal war with Apokolips. To prevent further bloodshed, the Highfather and Darkseid agreed to exchange their first-born sons. Highfather was given Darkseid’s child Orion, and young Scott Free was sent to Apokolips, to be raised by the hordes of evil.

From the moment he was brought to Apokolips, Scott was tortured. As a result, Scott mastered the art of escaping all the bonds and traps meant to keep him in place.

After years of torture, Scott finally escaped to Earth. He built a career as an escape artist, with skills rivaling that of Harry Houdini, using the name Mister Miracle. But he still bore the scars–physical or otherwise–of the trauma from his formative years.

2. Mister Miracle Deals With Real World Pain.

In an interview with Newsarama, writer Tom King shares that the pain in Scott’s life was coming from a real place. King was doing well financially, he was happy with his family, he had a dream job, but there was something missing and it was driving him insane. And he wrote about that life, struggling between external calm and internal turmoil.

You can see this in every page dedicated to Scott’s home life: the story is muted, Scott often feeling disconnected from the events surrounding him. He isn’t living or experiencing things. He’s just there, a mere participant in all the otherworldly events happening around him.

Mister Miracle, Tom King & Mitch Gerads, DC Comics

3. The Lines Between Love And Abuse Are Blurred.

Mister Miracle must report constantly to New Genesis to lead an army against the forces of Apokolips. He encounters Granny Goodness, his torturer, and she greets him with love and affection–moments before his wife Barda murders her. Scott feels guilt and pain over her death. Despite the fact that she physically and mentally tortured him for all his life, he still considers her a surrogate parent.

Scott’s adopted brother, Orion, repeatedly badgers him to “stand up,” to get over his mental illness–as if it were so easy. This is a theme throughout the entire comic: Scott’s family and friends reappear in his life, and they mean well, but they end up hurting him, often bringing back horrible and painful wounds.

4. Getting Better Means Multiple Setbacks

But life goes on.

Scott manages to continue his career, and as he slowly recovers and rebuilds his mental health, he and Barda have a child.

Just when everything is finally going well for Scott, his past catches up with him. Scott becomes the Highfather of New Genesis after his brother Orion is murdered, and his adoptive father, Darkseid, asks for his son, in exchange for another truce.

Scott’s life has been defined by his ability to escape his problems, and he’s sure that he’ll be able to escape this one too. With a vegetable platter, he gains an audience with Darkseid, where the exchange happens. And we get a glorious set of panels where Darkseid, the mythic evil god of the DC Universe, eats a baby carrot.

5. ‘What Gets Us Through is Just Getting Through’

Mister Miracle, Tom King & Mitch Gerads, DC Comics

In the same interview mentioned above, writer Tom King says something powerful: “Catharsis isn’t what gets us through. What gets us through is just getting through.”

And we can see this with Scott. He doesn’t experience a defining moment of catharsis. The change in his demeanor and mental health is so subtle that you might not realize it, but Scott is actually genuinely happier towards the end of the book. And that’s what makes it so powerful.

The book may be unbearably sad, with all the talk of self-harm and depression. But it also shows that despite all the trauma you experience in your life, there will be better days. Be prepared for multiple setbacks, hold on to your support network, don’t forget self-care, and don’t be ashamed to seek professional help.

Getting through the latest hurdle is the most important thing.