The Winter Soldier Explained is an article targeted at fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (“MCU”) who were introduced to the character in the movies (and the streaming TV series) and would like to know a little more about the Winter Soldier’s origins.
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Comic book artist Steve Ditko was found dead in his New York home this week. Ditko was 90.
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The superhero character called Miracleman has always had a troubled existence.
Born in the UK in 1954 as Marvelman due to an American lawsuit, revived in 1983 in revolutionary fashion by Alan Moore, threatened by Marvel Comics, necessitating a change of name when licensed in the USA, discontinued due to bankruptcy of publisher and complicated ownership disputes. The character remained in limbo for 20 odd years before being acquired by Marvel Comics!
Which brings us to the present day, where Miracleman Book Three: Olympus completes Alan Moore’s (credited as ‘The Original Writer’) critically acclaimed run on the character. As with the other Miracleman collections, the actual reprints make up less than half of the hardcover book with the remainder being ‘bonus’ features (e.g. original artwork and scripts) with the hefty US$39.99 price tag being somewhat unjustified.
Worst still, Marvel has elected to incorporate two stories that have no place being in the same book as this storyline. Seriously, what is the relevance? No wonder Moore is pissed off with Marvel. This is almost as atrocious behaviour as DC’s cash-grab with Before Watchmen. What. The. Fuck.
In the final analysis, Olympus is probably next to Watchmen, the finest superhero story ever told – never to be surpassed (not forgetting artist John Totleben’s amazing work). Narrated from Miracleman’s perspective, it is the logical response to the question – “What if Superman really existed” and also the perfect ending to the Miracleman story. But of course, due to commercial considerations, it is not.
But aside from these objections, if you have never read Olympus, then I highly recommend you pick up this book. Just do me a favour and put the book down once you have finished with the story itself and ignore the ‘bonus’ features. Or better yet, read the story all over again.
