A review by some_okie_dude27
Olympus by Mike Allred, Alan Moore, John Totleben, Peter Milligan
(Some Spoilers Will Follow)
"And sometimes...sometimes, I just wonder"
it is here that we see the end of the first series in Alan Moore's spiritual superhero trilogy, which ends on a rather paradoxical note, as we see one of the weaker stories in Alan's Miracleman run, but one he makes up for with an ending that will punch you straight in the nuts and make you say thank you for it. It was truly the ending of the series that got me to really love this and declare it one of Alan's more underrated works, which I still think that it is. But then I see some of my friends here who absolutely loathe this series, or at least the ending arc of it, and I won't pretend to see why they do. Alan's tendency to tell more than he allows to show often rears it's ugly head, and while he got better at it with him growing as a storyteller, it certainly hasn't gone away. But for my friends who found themselves dissatisfied with the ending arc, I can only direct them to wait until the ending, as to really understand the weight of Alan's ending for a man who's become a god.
As for the paradoxical nature of this book, the real issue with the arc is the Qys and Warpsmith arc, which is admittedly Alan's weakest arc of the series, but not because it isn't well written or developed, but rather that it isn't as remarkable as the rest of Alan's work in this run. But, with that out of the way, we also see the ending of the series, which is one that can be oddly comforting, yet completely horrifying at the same time. The final two issues of Alan's arc on Miracleman are nothing short of masterful, with John Totleban, who'd later work with him on Swamp Thing, contributing some truly remarkable work that's nothing short of sublime, but coming with some horrific art as well.
With Miracleman, Alan aimed to deconstruct the Superman and or Shazam concept and show how it could possibly work in the real world, and the point that Alan makes is that, with the existence of these gods, full on terror could ensue, particularly if this godlike power fell into the hands of one like Kid Miracleman, who ends up unleashing a personal holocaust on London, which while well written, is a horrific scene and the entirety of Issue 15 is one that will stick with you for a long time, not just with how horrific the violence is when Kid Miracleman unleashes his power. But that's never what impacted me as much, what really impacted me was the ending, along with its implications, I'm not saying that the horrific violence of Issue 15 isn't effective, but rather it was Issue 16 that really got me thinking, and it even has questioning out of the superhero deconstructions, which one from Watchmen or Miracleman was the most effective. But after giving it some thought, I thought that their endings are both special in their own unique ways.
There are many similarities with Watchmen's ending and Miracleman's ending, as both are ambiguous in their own ways on what actually happened, while in Watchmen, it is Rorschach who gets the last laugh in undermining Ozymandias' utopia, Miracleman's is a much more somber and reflective ending, with Miracleman establishing his 'perfect world' on humanity, but wondering if what he did was the right thing, which will haunt him as the series goes on from here. I'd expect even a god to understand that there's no such thing as 'perfection,' especially from a being who no longer understands humanity and has become little more than a dictator, as the old saying goes, the path to hell is often paved with good intentions, the world Miracleman creates seems to be nice, but Moore cleverly puts in hints that this world, despite its status as 'perfect' seems wrong, even perverse. But Moore has never been one to talk down to his audience or to illustrate his own views on the subject, but rather he allows us, the readers, to do so. It also forces you to think about everything that Miracleman has been through throughout the entirety of Moore's run and almost drives you crazy with the what ifs and the could'ves, should'ves, and would'ves of Miracleman's situation, but it leaves you with a sad thought, with Miracleman creating this 'perfect paradise', he has everything, but at the same, he has lost it as well.
Considering how perfect the ending feels, one can't help but see the flaws in it, which is ironic, considering how Moore tends to carry himself in his works. Moore's writing, while lyrical and well crafted, can show his aforementioned tendency to tell more than show, but that is a double edged sword as every great storyteller has his/her purpose, and the scenes that are crammed full of monologues that are beautiful, while at the same time as droning, like I said before Moore did eventually get better with this, but he still carries these habits in his work from time to time. There's also the aforementioned alien storyline which, while it makes sense, isn't really necessary and it feels like Moore is trying too hard to get us interested in this aspect of the story, while he had some really good material with Bates to get to.
But with that, Alan's first major superhero deconstruction comes to an end with an ending that I dare say rivals the ending of Watchmen, which is why I call it the perfect thematic prequel for the masterwork that would become Watchmen, while its focus is more leaning towards the superhuman aspect of superheroics, we also see the story of how a man goes from being a normal man into a god, and now that he has everything, he can only dare to ask what comes next.
"And sometimes...sometimes, I just wonder"
it is here that we see the end of the first series in Alan Moore's spiritual superhero trilogy, which ends on a rather paradoxical note, as we see one of the weaker stories in Alan's Miracleman run, but one he makes up for with an ending that will punch you straight in the nuts and make you say thank you for it. It was truly the ending of the series that got me to really love this and declare it one of Alan's more underrated works, which I still think that it is. But then I see some of my friends here who absolutely loathe this series, or at least the ending arc of it, and I won't pretend to see why they do. Alan's tendency to tell more than he allows to show often rears it's ugly head, and while he got better at it with him growing as a storyteller, it certainly hasn't gone away. But for my friends who found themselves dissatisfied with the ending arc, I can only direct them to wait until the ending, as to really understand the weight of Alan's ending for a man who's become a god.
As for the paradoxical nature of this book, the real issue with the arc is the Qys and Warpsmith arc, which is admittedly Alan's weakest arc of the series, but not because it isn't well written or developed, but rather that it isn't as remarkable as the rest of Alan's work in this run. But, with that out of the way, we also see the ending of the series, which is one that can be oddly comforting, yet completely horrifying at the same time. The final two issues of Alan's arc on Miracleman are nothing short of masterful, with John Totleban, who'd later work with him on Swamp Thing, contributing some truly remarkable work that's nothing short of sublime, but coming with some horrific art as well.
With Miracleman, Alan aimed to deconstruct the Superman and or Shazam concept and show how it could possibly work in the real world, and the point that Alan makes is that, with the existence of these gods, full on terror could ensue, particularly if this godlike power fell into the hands of one like Kid Miracleman, who ends up unleashing a personal holocaust on London, which while well written, is a horrific scene and the entirety of Issue 15 is one that will stick with you for a long time, not just with how horrific the violence is when Kid Miracleman unleashes his power. But that's never what impacted me as much, what really impacted me was the ending, along with its implications, I'm not saying that the horrific violence of Issue 15 isn't effective, but rather it was Issue 16 that really got me thinking, and it even has questioning out of the superhero deconstructions, which one from Watchmen or Miracleman was the most effective. But after giving it some thought, I thought that their endings are both special in their own unique ways.
There are many similarities with Watchmen's ending and Miracleman's ending, as both are ambiguous in their own ways on what actually happened, while in Watchmen, it is Rorschach who gets the last laugh in undermining Ozymandias' utopia, Miracleman's is a much more somber and reflective ending, with Miracleman establishing his 'perfect world' on humanity, but wondering if what he did was the right thing, which will haunt him as the series goes on from here. I'd expect even a god to understand that there's no such thing as 'perfection,' especially from a being who no longer understands humanity and has become little more than a dictator, as the old saying goes, the path to hell is often paved with good intentions, the world Miracleman creates seems to be nice, but Moore cleverly puts in hints that this world, despite its status as 'perfect' seems wrong, even perverse. But Moore has never been one to talk down to his audience or to illustrate his own views on the subject, but rather he allows us, the readers, to do so. It also forces you to think about everything that Miracleman has been through throughout the entirety of Moore's run and almost drives you crazy with the what ifs and the could'ves, should'ves, and would'ves of Miracleman's situation, but it leaves you with a sad thought, with Miracleman creating this 'perfect paradise', he has everything, but at the same, he has lost it as well.
Considering how perfect the ending feels, one can't help but see the flaws in it, which is ironic, considering how Moore tends to carry himself in his works. Moore's writing, while lyrical and well crafted, can show his aforementioned tendency to tell more than show, but that is a double edged sword as every great storyteller has his/her purpose, and the scenes that are crammed full of monologues that are beautiful, while at the same time as droning, like I said before Moore did eventually get better with this, but he still carries these habits in his work from time to time. There's also the aforementioned alien storyline which, while it makes sense, isn't really necessary and it feels like Moore is trying too hard to get us interested in this aspect of the story, while he had some really good material with Bates to get to.
But with that, Alan's first major superhero deconstruction comes to an end with an ending that I dare say rivals the ending of Watchmen, which is why I call it the perfect thematic prequel for the masterwork that would become Watchmen, while its focus is more leaning towards the superhuman aspect of superheroics, we also see the story of how a man goes from being a normal man into a god, and now that he has everything, he can only dare to ask what comes next.