Who is Marvel's Miracleman? Comic origin and powers explored amid team up with X-Men

Marvel Comics has planned something special in celebration of Miracleman's 40th anniversary.

Miracleman is set to team up with the X-Men, Captain America and other superheroes in a few upcoming variant covers that will be drawn by some of the best in the game, including artists like Peach Momoko, Pepe Larraz, John Cassaday, Mark Bagley, Terry Dodson, Jim Cheung, Mark Buckingham and Salvador Larroca.

Rolling out this September 7, 2022, you can check out the superhero when he features alongside Captain America.

Here, we dig deeper into the origins of Miracleman in honor of his 40th anniversary, and see what he brings to the table.

Marvel's Miracleman: Name, powers and more details explored

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Created by Mick Anglo, the hero first debuted in Marvelman #25 and was then brought back by Alan Moore in 1982 where he became a part of the larger Marvel universe.

According to Fandom, Micky Moran was a young orphan who used to work as a copy boy for the Daily Record. He was given powers after an astrophysicist by the name of Guntag Barghet let him tap into the key harmonic of the universe. He was chosen to help those in need because he was studious, honest and a good person.

To turn it into Marvelman, all Moran has to do, is say 'Kimota' (which is Atomic, spelled backwards). Going forward, he also gets two sidekicks, named Dicky Dauntless aka Young Marvelman, and Johnny Bates aka Kid Marvelman.

Apart from harbouring a scientific intellect, Marvelman has powers such as superhuman strength, invulnerability, superhuman stamina, superhuman speed and more. He uses force fields in fights, and attacks his enemies using energy blasts. His other powers include telepathy and telekinesis as well.

If you think Miracleman sounds similar to another superhero, then you're right. He shares almost the same powers with Shazam (at that time he was Captain Marvel, hence the same powers), and has a similar origin story. Just like Micky getting his powers from the astrophysicist, Billy Batson gets his powers through a wizard and has to scream 'Shazam' in order to turn into a superhero.

How did Marvelman change to Miracleman?

Miracleman originally didn't have that name. When Mike Anglo created him for the comics, the superhero he went by the name of Marvelman.

Anglo teamed up with Len Miller in 1953 to help him out with his company L. Miller & Son, Ltd. Owing to a lawsuit from DC Comics, they changed Captain Marvel into Marvelman.

When Mike Anglo's association with Len Miller ended in 1960, a disgruntled Anglo repurposed some of Marvelman's stories and named him Captain Miracle, going on to publish the comics under his own banner.

Len Miller would then push out some black-and-white Marvelman comics, but by the time the colored comics started coming out, Marvelman wouldn't be able to keep up with the success, leading Miller to file for bankruptcy.

Marvelman then reappeared in the story of the Warriors, written by Alan Moore, where his name was changed to Miracleman, in order to avoid problems with Marvel Comics. This was because Atlas Comics, which had been named Marvel Comics, sometime before Marvelman was discontinued, had objected to the use of the word 'Marvel' in the series title.

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Watch out for Micky's return when he shares the same cover with Captain America this September.