A review by some_okie_dude27
The Red King Syndrome by Alan Moore

(Minor Spoilers)

Moore continues strong with the second volume of his first major superhero deconstruction Miracleman, where he took a British Captain Marvel/Shazam knock off and turned him into a postmodern reflection on the state of the superhero and how a superhuman would be viewed in a real credible world, and how they ascend into being a god. I could even argue that it rivals its spiritual sequel Watchmen in sense of power and scope that Moore brings to the table, now I'll be the first to admit that it's not a perfect work, and it's actually quite different than Watchmen, in sense of style and what it's about.

While the first arc revolved around a god awakening, the second examines a god learning about where he came from, and how it might not have been as ridiculous as he initially thought. We meet Emil Gargunza, a genius and the man who created the Miracleman family in order to gain godhood himself. He proves to be as demented as he exhibits his perverse plan to Liz Moran, who is now with child, the first naturally born superhuman in the world. Miracleman and his new ally, the assassin Evelyn Cream, who goes through a wonderfully written redemption arc as he sacrifices himself in order to save Miracleman and his wife. Moore's prose, along with Alan Davis' exceptional art, is magnificent, despite Moore's flaws with his habit of telling too much and not showing as much as he could, comics is a visual medium. But, I overlook those rather frivolous flaws in order to talk about Moore's actual storytelling. I'm constantly in awe with Moore's bringing a sense of reason into a concept that's clearly mad, which is what followers of Moore like Grant Morrison would replicate to mixed success. It's almost like nobody else can truly do what Moore can do with his examinations of our modern mythology with the superhero, he brings a sense of rationality to the concept that's rarely ever seen.

But with the awe that comes with the superhero, comes the horror following right along on its tail. Moore puts in subtle and not so subtle hints in how terrifying a superhero could be if thrown into the real world, as Miracleman slaughters his way through Gargunza's goons in increasingly grotesque fashion, and even has a grim sense of enjoyment for the task of murder, as he seems to grow desensitized to the harm that he bestows among the men that's harming his family. He may be justified, but you find yourself starting to question Miracleman's actions. You certainly understand where Miracleman is coming from, but as Moore tends to do, he often has you questioning the hero's actions and making you ask yourself on if you should really root for this man or not.

Moore also begins to plant the seeds for Miracleman's descent into godhood and his slow divorce away from humanity, which will be hit much more harder as soon as we'll get into the third and final trade of Alan's run. Miracleman is a person who wants to do the right thing, as is the case with a lot of Alan Moore's characters, but often tries to do it in ways that are morally questionable, but Moore also shows the fact that Miracleman is not always considering the morality of man, but rather of a being that is, in many ways, 'better' than mundane humanity.

But the question remains, is he really?