Alan Moore’s “Miracleman” may be the most sweeping piece of superhero writing he’s ever done. Transgressive in almost every way and shockingly refreshing despite being over thirty years old “Miracleman: Olympus” is unlike anything I’ve ever read from Marvel Comics, and one of the most definitive works in the superhero genre.

WRITTEN BY: The Original Writer

ART BY: John Totleben

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

PRICE: $39.99

RELEASE: 8 April 2015

The name Olympus is taken straight from the utopia Miracleman imposes upon the world after Kid Marvelman aka Young Nastyman destroys 40,000 people in the heart of London. This act of pure destruction rises out from the theme of godliness. The entire work seems to be a meditation on the state of superherodom. Being an elevated being comes with a certain disconnect from the world, it is inherently something alien, and for Miracleman, this comes with the great pain of leaving his human life behind.

Alan Moore’s original script is dense and reads more like prose than the typical comic. John Totleben’s art is expressive and equally dense. Pages often break the typical conventions of paneling in light of something more explosive. Two page spreads with chunks of prose dominate the collection, which in a way allows the reader to experience the totality of spending a moment in the life of a god.

Upon first exposure the prose-like scripting and intense themes may be off putting the to common comic reader, but the sheer depth of Moore’s penetration into the superhero archetype is worth its weight in gold. The philosophical implications of being a god in a world of men are perhaps more poignant than that of Watchmen.

In the back matter of the book, Marvel has included an intense collection of supplemental material including scripts, pencils, inks, and finished pages before color. The collection reads like a tome dedicated to the art of creating comics. You can learn more from it, than most books on breaking into the industry. Just don’t expect the lessons to be overt.

Miracleman may suffer from being a tad unapproachable, but should be measured along side of Moore’s many other master works. Together with John Totleben he has created a haunting tribute to the archetypes that began the medium altogether, but exposes them in new and alien ways. Instead of being a book about how we relate to our superhuman friends, it’s about just how different they feel in relation to us.

There are moments with star children who are more advanced than most adults by the age of four. A four year old space faring child who has sex with alien races is about as perverse as it comes, but here it’s just standard fare. The ways in which Miracleman will have you reexamine what it means to be human are numerous, but it may just help you understand that when you have everything you truly have nothing.

There is nothing more lonely than being all knowing, all powerful, and the last page of this collection beautifully hammers it all home – having everything is worse than having nothing.

At 39.99 this book is a steal. Alan Moore may have had his name removed but this is very much his finest work. I loved this more than Swamp Thing – and previously that was my favorite comic, now it’s this.