Mister Miracle #1

Mister Miracle #1 (On Sale: January 14, 1971), has a cover by Jack Kirby and Vince Colletta. This is the final piece to Kirby's Fourth World puzzle. To me, this book always felt more like a Marvel book than any of the work Kirby did at DC in the 1970s.

Mister Miracle is introduced in "Murder Missile Trap" written and drawn by Jack Kirby and inked by Vinnie Colletta. A young man named Scott Free comes upon Thaddeus Brown, an escape artist who bills himself as Mr. Miracle, and Brown's assistant Oberon, in the process of rehearsing an escape stunt. When the two are abruptly attacked by Inter-Gang thugs, Scott Free pitches in and helps defeat the gangsters. 

Later, Scott learns that Brown has been challenged to perform the ultimate escape by Steel Hand, an Inter-Gang chief with a hand of metal. He also demonstrates one of his own escapes to Brown and Oberon, using a gadget from New Genesis. 

Later, Brown is shot by a sniper employed by Steel Hand, and Scott Free takes over the identity of Mr. Miracle to bring Steel Hand to justice. After Steel Hand's capture, Oberon becomes the new Mr. Miracle's assistant, and the new Miracle promises to continue Thaddeus Brown's escape-artist career. This story has been reprinted in Jack Kirby's Mister Miracle TPB (1998), Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus Vol. 1 HC (2007), Countdown Special: New Gods #1 (2008), Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus Vol. 1 TPB (2012), DC Comics Presents: Darkseid War 100-Page Super Spectacular #1 (2016), and Mister Miracle by Jack Kirby TPB (2017).

Edited by Jack Kirby.