Miracleman (character)

Marvelman (later to become Miracleman) was a British-authored superhero comic, first published on February 3, 1954.

Its origins were in black and white reprints of the American Captain Marvel comics. The London publisher, L. Miller & Son, faced with the supply of Captain Marvel material being cut off, had turned to a British comic writer, Sidney Anglo, for help, and launched the new "Marvelman" comic.

Marvelman's origin was based loosely on that of Captain Marvel: a young reporter named Micky Moran encounters an astrophysicist who gives him his siuper powers, based on atomic energy. To transform into Marvelman, he has to speak the word "Kimota" ("atomic" backwards). Marvelman was joined by Dicky Dauntless, a messenger boy who became Young Marvelman on speaking the name "Marvelman", and young Johnny Bates (Kid Marvelman, magic word "Marvelman")

They had the standard superhero adventures, and the comic ran until the 1960s: the titles published were Marvelman, Kid Marvelman, adn Marvelman Family, which usually featured Marvelman, Young Marvelman and Kid Marvelman together. A variety of Marvelman and Young Marvelman albums were printed annually from 1954 to 1963.

In March 1982, a new British monthly black and white comic was launched called Warrior. From the first issue until issue 20 it featured a new, darker version of Marvelman, written by Alan Moore.

This, like many of Moore's other works, exploded the existing history. The adult Moran gradually remembers his early life as a superhero, only to find the entire experience was a simulation as part of a military research project attempting to enhance the human body with alien technology.

Writer Neil Gaiman developed the series further in the 1990s.