‘Mister Miracle’ #10 Perfectly Parodies Marvel’s Galactus and Silver Surfer

Tom King and Mitch Gerads‘ Mister Miracle series continues to take fans on an emotional roller coaster ride, and the latest stop ended up involving a pretty sly Marvel nod.

Spoilers for Mister Miracle #10 below!

The issue continues to see Scott Free and Big Barda in a predicament, as they attempt to balance saving Apokolips in a war with raising their son, Jacob. Midway through the issue, Scott begins to set up Jacob’s first birthday party with his manager/babysitter/friend, Funky Flashman. When Scott vents to Funky about his problems, Funky begins to tell the story of “Stareater and Golden Retriever”, a pair of characters that he apparently “created” with Jacob.

One page – which, like the issue’s variant cover, features an appearance of King’s rendering of Krypto the Superdog – brings the story of Stareater and Golden Retriever to life. Apparently, Golden Retriever is tasked with helping Stareater find… well, stars to eat.

Ultimately, this leads Stareater to almost destroy the sun, while Golden Retriever “finally finds comfort and companionship” in the form of a boy named Jake Jones. Golden Retriever ends up rebelling against his former master, ultimately saving the day with the help of Batman.

Sounds familiar, right?

While the issue never mentions it outright, the sequence certainly comes across as a play on the debut of Galactus and Silver Surfer – particularly, 1966’s Fantastic Four 48-50. Sure, some details are different between the actual origin and Mister Miracle‘s parody, enough to where the reference might fly over some readers’ heads.

Thankfully, Scott and Funky’s conversation that surrounds that page helps hammer the point home even further. As Funky explains, the one-year-old Jacob provides the “imaginations” for the stories they come up with, while Funky does the words — much like Stan Lee and Jack Kirby‘s famous “Marvel method” of creating comics. Seeing as Funky has long been regarded as a caricature of Stan Lee, and Jacob shares a name with Jack Kirby, it all works pretty perfectly.

This certainly isn’t the first or last time that DC and Marvel have unofficially “crossed streams”, but there’s something delightful about seeing Mister Miracle poke fun at one of Lee and Kirby’s greatest collaborations. And considering the approach that the series has had to its own source material, this certainly feels par for the course.

What do you think of Mister Miracle‘s take on Galactus and Silver Surfer? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Mister Miracle #10 is available in stores now.