Let’s just get this right out of the way –-Superman isn’t boring. He’s far from it. But he is a character that benefits from a writer that cares. Elliot S! Maggin is definitely a Superman writer that cares (and yes, that exclamation point is supposed to be there.) One of the primary DC Comics Superman writers of the 1970’s and early 80’s, Maggin actually ran for office (albeit unsuccessfully) to try and make the real world a better place. It’s clear from reading his son Jeremy’s forward to the 2017 edition of Miracle Monday that Maggin infuses the character with as much historical, religious, and philosophical meaning as he can. Superman means as much to the author as Abe Lincoln or the biblical Moses. In that same forward, Jeremy Maggin writes that it can be a challenge to write the character because Superman always does the right thing, and that’s the underlying theme in Miracle Monday  – Superman always does the right thing.

Originally published in 1981 to coincide with the release of Superman II, Miracle Monday is a standalone novel steeped in the Superman mythos. After being out of print for decades, it has been made available again through Amazon’s CreateSpace publishing. The basic plot can be shortly described as “The Man of Steel vs. The Devil”. In the novel, Satan’s demonic servant, C.W. Saturn, who’s introduced torturing 666 souls in the pits of hell, is given the assignment of breaking Superman and acquiring his soul. Saturn ascends to Metropolis to cause mischief and mayhem across planet Earth and prove Superman a hypocrite in his greatest moment of failure. Along the way, a young time traveler from the 29th century gets mixed up trying to uncover the origins of the holiday Miracle Monday and Lex Luthor breaks out of prison for the umpteenth time.

For those looking for a full-blown story about Superman fighting an agent of Satan, this is not the book for you. Despite what I just described as the book’s plot, it’s more of a sketched out story to hang a character study based around Superman. A lot of the first half of the book is dedicated to showing and providing background of who Superman is. Not the details of his origin story, but the philosophical and moral underpinnings. We need to understand why Superman is such a good person and how he reflects that onto the world. This is important for us to understand why Saturn’s attempt to break him constitutes the ultimate prize for the Dark Legions of the Underworld.

An interesting counterpoint to the Last Son of Krypton is the focus we get on his archnemesis, Lex Luthor – what better way to understand our main character than through his greatest enemy? This is not the corrupt corporate executive Lex of the 1980’s and 90’s, this is the career criminal mad scientist Lex. In many ways, while Lex has been in-and-out of jail committing criminal acts as often as he can, he is a very tragic figure in this book. It’s clear that Superman views Lex as his greatest failure; a former friend turned villain. Lex is a human being capable of the most intelligent and clever schemes and machinations, but seems to be driven to conquer Superman instead of achieving something more productive. Whether driven by ego or petty revenge, Luthor seems to succumb to all too human foibles to Superman’s eternal chagrin.

For as many positives as this book has, I think it’s only fair to discuss its potential drawbacks to incoming readers. This book is steeped in the pre-Crisis1Crisis referring to Crisis on Infinite Earths, the 1985-1986 12 issue mini-series published by DC Comics, which subsequently led into John Byne’s 6 issue The Man of Steel (1986) miniseries which rebooted the Superman mythos from scratch. mythos of Superman, and as such might be a bit confusing for general audiences who are familiar with the post-Crisis version depicted in television series like Superman: The Animated Series or the WB’s Smallville. Clark Kent is a television news anchor for the WGBS channel owned by Morgan Edge, as opposed to Daily Planet reporter. So, yes, Clark Kent’s face is broadcast every night at 6pm. No, this doesn’t seem to get in the way of his being Superman. Additionally, Clark began his superhero career as Superboy in Smallville, with his parents passing shortly after his high school graduation. As mentioned before, in Smallville, Superboy and Luthor started out as friends before becoming bitter rivals. Maggin had been a principal architect of DC Comics Superman titles for a decade at this point, so it’s understandable but tricky if you’re coming into this completely cold.

Additionally, this book is a bit dated in terms of its references. Perry White is referred to in appearance as looking like an older Bruce Jenner, something that plays much differently in 2022 then when first published in 1981. There is also the character of Kristen Wells, our aforementioned time traveler from the 29th century. As a time traveler in the story, she underwent training to learn common human parlance of the time. This results in her learning hip, groovy lingo of the 1970s. I’m sure it was meant to be intentionally comedic at the time, but it kind of dates the book and may cause the reader to dismiss the character overall as a joke. The character Kristen Wells would later be introduced by Maggin into the comics, adopting the identity of Superwoman. She unfortunately seemed to get written out with the previously mentioned Crisis after a handful of appearances, and hasn’t been seen since.

Miracle Monday itself is a treat to read. I would characterize it as very light reading. It’s less than 250 pages, and I would describe Maggin’s prose style as unhurried and clear. It can easily be read in a day if you’ve got the time to spare. While the book might appear light on incident and action, it is a very philosophically and thematically rich story. In many ways, the book would translate very well to the silver screen, being just the right length, but in others, it’s probably too cerebral and really dependent on being a Superman character study than a traditional superhero movie. If they ever made a big budget version of this, I’d go see it, but I don’t know how it would do in the current marketplace of ideas.
Overall, Miracle Monday is an excellent story that truly showcases the best of what Superman can be. At this point, Superman is an almost mythological figure. Most everyone around the globe can recite the legend of Superman if asked. Still, the character seems to be in a nebulous state at the moment. While I can’t say it’s the easiest point of entry for someone only passingly familiar with the character and his mythos, if you’re willing to put in the effort to understand and ponder, then there are a lot of riches to be found in these pages.