Miracleman: The Silver Age #7: The Serpent in the Garden

Miracleman: The Silver Age, the long-awaited series from Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham, comes to an end with issue #7, but is it the end? The closing panels of Miracleman: The Silver Age #7 declare to the reader that things will continue in The Dark Age, so we can now look forward to Miracleman: The Dark Age, though there are no more details at this time. Miracleman: The Silver Age #7 feels like a satisfying conclusion to the chapter Gaiman and Buckingham set out to create. It was a story about Dicky Dauntless coming to terms with what it means to be Young Miracleman and what it means to be alive in the world shaped by Miracleman. If Miracleman is playing God then Dicky decides that he needs to be the foil; the Serpent in Eden as he puts it. 

Mark Buckingham’s work on this series is stellar and masterful. He wrangles this incredible and fantastical world with endless possibilities into a concise and realized vision with incredible detail and linework. While he is a co-writer of the series, his visual storytelling is just as strong as Gaiman’s writing and that is evident in the climax of the issue. The cover and blurb are rather misleading, which is nothing new when it comes to comic books, which hints at a fight between Miracleman and Young Miracleman. Despite there being no physical conflict, the confrontation is just as powerful thanks to Buckingham’s expressive faces that show real emotion. Jordie Bellaire’s colors are a standout on this issue as well. She is one of the best colorists working today and that is evident in this series. Buckingham adds so much detail that probably wouldn’t be as appreciated without Bellaire laying down the color. The amount of care put into Miracleman: The Silver Age by the entire creative team, including the solid lettering by the legendary Todd Klein, is apparent and the thought of what comes next is truly exciting. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait as long.