Valiant 101: THE DEATH-DEFYING DOCTOR MIRAGE

My immediate reaction as I opened The Death-Defying Doctor Mirage was surprise as I awed over the art. It is stunningly different than not only anything Valiant had put out yet, but it's unconventional for superhero comics in general. The story itself is unconventional for superhero comics. In fact, it's barely superhero-y.

The Death-Defying Doctor Mirage follows Shan-Fong Mirage, paranormal investigator of some kind. Devastated and hallowed after the death of her husband, she takes up odd jobs to make ends meet and keep herself busy, shielding herself from the pain of the loss. In a cruel twist of irony, although Shan can conjure and speak to mostly any spirit, it is the spirit of her husband that eludes her. She cannot seem to find him. Until she comes across any even odder job.

Valiant Comics' "moneyball" formula has meant for me is that most of the books I've read in this experiment/project were by creators (writers, artists, colourists etc) whose work I hadn't read before. Jen Van Meter writes this tale of a journey to hell and back (literally). She crafts a dense story of loss and separation and longing and closure, and tells it in five issues. This, perhaps more than anything else, left me the most impressed. She has a very Brian Michael Bendis style of writing. By which I mean that she barely does any monologues, although she is not so dialogue-heavy as Bendis is. And still her characters feel chiselled out with precision. She does not require a panels of monologues to convey Shan's emptiness to the reader when she can do that with one.

My only quibble is that perhaps due to the story being so dense, a few details are missed out. Or rather, not explicitly told. I found myself twice at a point where, while reading over the recap before beginning an issue, I went "ah, so that's why--"

Roberto de la Torre and David Baron handle the art department for this offbeat story, with de la Torre doing the illustrations and Baron the colours, and the result is as offbeat as the story itself. de la Torre's scratchy lines are complemented by Baron's somber palette, together creating a very lugubrious atmosphere that is perfect for this story about death and demons and ghosts and monsters, but still, at its core, is a grief laden story about the pain of separation.

I could not but think of the old Vertigo books, specifically Hellblazer, as I read this. While it lacks the cynicism and the self loathing and the general lack of punk rock, The Death-Defying Doctor Mirage does have similar structure. And finally, no, I have no idea of how the Valiant version of these characters stand against the VALIANT version, and I didn't really need to know.