Danny Horn is blogging about Miracle Monday today (actually, he posted it last night). He's a bit early because Miracle Monday falls on May 16 this year (as, coincidentally, it did in 2011 when I started this super-popular discussion... almost 40 views in a decade!), but by that time he'll probably be deep in the middle of the first Swamp Thing movie.
I bought a used copy of Miracle Monday back in early 2011 with the intention of having it read by Miracle Monday of that year. That didn't happen, but I went ahead and started this thread anyway. Then I proceeded to think about reading the book every year since, but never quite getting around to it (until now). At one point (in 2021), I gave up on the idea of trying to tie my reading schedule to the third Monday in May. I read Last Son of Krypton (the "First in Warner's Series of Superman Novels") and thought I might read the second immediately afterward. [There were no paperback novelizations of Superman: The Movie or Superman II (for reasons we need no go into here); instead we got Last Son of Krypton and Miracle Monday, both by Elliot Maggin.] But Elliot "Turkey Noodle" Maggin has a distinctive writing style (some might say "eccentric" or "quirky") that makes it difficult to read two of his books in a row. Even "Miracle Monday" 2022 seemed too soon. But when I finished reading the two books I had been reading last week, I discovered there was just enough time to slot in Miracle Monday so I figured it was now or never!
I'm not going to provide an "in-depth" review because Danny Horn did a much better job in his "Superheroes Every Day" blog and I already linked to that last year. Maggin's chapters seem random, almost haphazard. They follow one after another with no apparent purpose until finally a story emerges. He foreshadows "Miracle Monday" early on, then hits it hard (every chapter) in the last 50 pages of the book. At one point, Maggin's Lex Luthor invents a new source of energy . I know enough about science to find his ideas intriguing, but I don't know enough about science to explain why it's not feasible. Of Maggin's two books, I preferred Miracle Monday, quirky as it was. I may even read it again someday... in another decade or so.
Now that I have... finally... read Miracle Monday, I felt free to move on to DC Comics Presents Annual #2. I bought this comic as a backissue in the late '80s with no intention of reading it anytime soon, but "someday." For the past decade or so, ever since I learned that Superwoman is the same Kristin Wells Elliot Maggin introduced in Miracle Monday, I've been meaning to read it, and now at last I can.
Beneath the beautiful Gil Kane cover, the interior is penciled and inked by Keith Pollard and Mike DeCarlo respectively. In the future, Superwoman's secret identity is the only one not publicly known, so history professor Kristin Wells decides to go back in time to solve the mystery. (Can you guess where this is going?) she lands a job as Lois Lane's assistant, then soon discovers the "Superwoman" costume hanging in Lois's closet. So Lois must be Superwoman! But Lois is holding the costume for Clark Kent's cousin, who is flying in from out of town to attend one of Morgan Edge's costume parties. So Linda Danvers must be Superwoman! But Linda doesn't want to wear a costume that covers her face. Lana Lang is not Superwoman, either.
The same day I bought DC Comics Presents Annual #1 I also bought #2-4, including the second (and, for all intents and purposes, final) appearance of Superwoman, drawn by Eduardo Barreto and Jerry Ordway. She has the same power set as Booster Gold (future technology used to mimic super powers in the past) and the same legend as the version of Mon-El known as Valor (the reputation, in the future, of being one of the greatest heroes of the past). DC did eventually account for Valor's reputation, but not Superwoman's. In DCCP Annual #4, Kristen Wells is caught in a "chrono-synclastic infundibulum" which sends her to 1985 , with no memory of her life in the future, where she apparently stayed to live out her legend. In the story's epilogue, she returns to her own time after several years with her memory intact after having become the greatest heroine of the 20th century. Unfortunately, these stories were lost in the "Crisis on Infinite Earths."
Miracle Monday isn't the only "holiday" invented by Elliot Maggin (as alluded to by Philip 12 years ago Tuesday). If you went to college in the '80s (or more recently), you probably think you know all about "Thirsty Thursday" but, unless you have read Superman #293, chances are you don't.
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Danny Horn is blogging about Miracle Monday today (actually, he posted it last night). He's a bit early because Miracle Monday falls on May 16 this year (as, coincidentally, it did in 2011 when I started this super-popular discussion... almost 40 views in a decade!), but by that time he'll probably be deep in the middle of the first Swamp Thing movie.
Happy Miracle Monday!
I bought a used copy of Miracle Monday back in early 2011 with the intention of having it read by Miracle Monday of that year. That didn't happen, but I went ahead and started this thread anyway. Then I proceeded to think about reading the book every year since, but never quite getting around to it (until now). At one point (in 2021), I gave up on the idea of trying to tie my reading schedule to the third Monday in May. I read Last Son of Krypton (the "First in Warner's Series of Superman Novels") and thought I might read the second immediately afterward. [There were no paperback novelizations of Superman: The Movie or Superman II (for reasons we need no go into here); instead we got Last Son of Krypton and Miracle Monday, both by Elliot Maggin.] But Elliot "Turkey Noodle" Maggin has a distinctive writing style (some might say "eccentric" or "quirky") that makes it difficult to read two of his books in a row. Even "Miracle Monday" 2022 seemed too soon. But when I finished reading the two books I had been reading last week, I discovered there was just enough time to slot in Miracle Monday so I figured it was now or never!
I'm not going to provide an "in-depth" review because Danny Horn did a much better job in his "Superheroes Every Day" blog and I already linked to that last year. Maggin's chapters seem random, almost haphazard. They follow one after another with no apparent purpose until finally a story emerges. He foreshadows "Miracle Monday" early on, then hits it hard (every chapter) in the last 50 pages of the book. At one point, Maggin's Lex Luthor invents a new source of energy . I know enough about science to find his ideas intriguing, but I don't know enough about science to explain why it's not feasible. Of Maggin's two books, I preferred Miracle Monday, quirky as it was. I may even read it again someday... in another decade or so.
Turkey Noodle Tuesday
Now that I have... finally... read Miracle Monday, I felt free to move on to DC Comics Presents Annual #2. I bought this comic as a backissue in the late '80s with no intention of reading it anytime soon, but "someday." For the past decade or so, ever since I learned that Superwoman is the same Kristin Wells Elliot Maggin introduced in Miracle Monday, I've been meaning to read it, and now at last I can.
Beneath the beautiful Gil Kane cover, the interior is penciled and inked by Keith Pollard and Mike DeCarlo respectively. In the future, Superwoman's secret identity is the only one not publicly known, so history professor Kristin Wells decides to go back in time to solve the mystery. (Can you guess where this is going?) she lands a job as Lois Lane's assistant, then soon discovers the "Superwoman" costume hanging in Lois's closet. So Lois must be Superwoman! But Lois is holding the costume for Clark Kent's cousin, who is flying in from out of town to attend one of Morgan Edge's costume parties. So Linda Danvers must be Superwoman! But Linda doesn't want to wear a costume that covers her face. Lana Lang is not Superwoman, either.
Who can it be?
Kristin Wells Wednesday
The same day I bought DC Comics Presents Annual #1 I also bought #2-4, including the second (and, for all intents and purposes, final) appearance of Superwoman, drawn by Eduardo Barreto and Jerry Ordway. She has the same power set as Booster Gold (future technology used to mimic super powers in the past) and the same legend as the version of Mon-El known as Valor (the reputation, in the future, of being one of the greatest heroes of the past). DC did eventually account for Valor's reputation, but not Superwoman's. In DCCP Annual #4, Kristen Wells is caught in a "chrono-synclastic infundibulum" which sends her to 1985 , with no memory of her life in the future, where she apparently stayed to live out her legend. In the story's epilogue, she returns to her own time after several years with her memory intact after having become the greatest heroine of the 20th century. Unfortunately, these stories were lost in the "Crisis on Infinite Earths."
Thirsty Thursday
Miracle Monday isn't the only "holiday" invented by Elliot Maggin (as alluded to by Philip 12 years ago Tuesday). If you went to college in the '80s (or more recently), you probably think you know all about "Thirsty Thursday" but, unless you have read Superman #293, chances are you don't.
"The Miracle of Thirsty Thursday"
Who is the Third Kryptonian?
Could it be... the post-Crisis Kristin Wells?
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