Second Life of Dr. Mirage
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The Second Life of Dr. Mirage is a popular comic book with an eponymous main character, created by legendary comics writer/artist Bob Layton, illustrated by Bernard Chang, and published by Valiant Comics. More than 2 million Second Life of Dr. Mirage comics were sold between its debut in 1993 and its cancellation in 1995. In 1995, Acclaim Entertainment bought Valiant Comics (for a reported $65 million) and intended to change the character and restart the series, but before this happened, Acclaim filed for bankruptcy in 2004 due to heavy losses from its video game division. Valiant Entertainment are the current owners of the Valiant catalog (including Second Life of Dr. Mirage).
SLDM is a unique series that features the hallmarks of all the great books from Valiant Comics - the central couple are of Asian-American (Hwen Mirage) and Brazilian (Carmen Mirage) origin; the hero is a regular joe who happens to have gained powers through believably presented scientific means; the portrayal of the powers and situations are based in reality (his costume is in fact not a costume but the ski suit he was wearing when he was killed!), and the high concept (paranormal investigations and the return from death as a specter) is married with a deep-seated humanity that resonates with the audience (the love story and the struggle to keep the marriage together).
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[edit] Story
Hwen and Carmen Mirage are parapsychologists who investigate paranormal activity and supernatural mystery. They are hired to investigate two corpses whose vital signs are reading normal. While performing tests, the bodies, which turn out to be charged with necromantic energy, come to life and attack Hwen and Carmen. During the fight they reveal the name Master Darque, a necromantic sorcerer (powered by death energy). This was the first real paranormal experience for Hwen and Carmen, and Hwen sets out to find Darque.
After tracing the necromantic activities of Master Darque to Ladakh, Tibet, Hwen confronts Darque, who immediately absorbs Hwen's life force in order to add it to his own. However, just as the Darque Power released by Hwen's death is at its peak, Carmen's love for her husband anchors him to this reality.
In the seconds where Darque is shaken from Hwen's escape from death, Carmen and Hwen escape the temple and headed home. During the escape, when they were attacked by undead priests who had been sent by Darque, Hwen discovers that he could control energy. As it turns out, since Mirage is too powerful and Darque can use Hwen for his own purpose, an uneasy truce between Darque and Hwen is established.
When Hwen had depleted his energy level, he sought out Darque again but found his sister Sandria. She replenished his energy and revealed that he was 'the one'. The meaning of 'the one' was revealed during The Chaos Effect where Hwen and Solar closed the rift leaking necromantic energy into the world.
Carmen was able to bring her husband’s spirit back from the dead through the power of their love for each other but only as an intangible specter -- Doctor Mirage is unable to even touch the woman he conquered death to rejoin. Hwen has become a being of pure energy -- a "positively-charged" being of necromantic power. Their marriage is put under incredible strain as the couple struggle to return to their normal life, trying to figure out the extent of Hwen’s powers and find solutions for their new problems –- how do they make love? How does a specter eat? What to tell mama Mirage?
[edit] Darque Power (aka Necromantic Energy)
Darque Power is the name given to the necromantic energy released when humans die. It's named after Master Darque, the world's foremost necromancer. Darque Power can be utilized for all sorts of magic. Silver acts as a natural conductor for the energy and it's been established that Electro-Magnetic Pulses can interfere with its processes.
[edit] Key Books
Second Life of Doctor Mirage #1 through #11 - the origin of Doctor Mirage and his first battle with Darque. The couple struggle to keep their marriage working while continuing their investigations. How does sex work? How is Mirage going to eat? Mama Mirage pays a visit. Doctor Mirage learns to control his powers more and more until he can turn solid again (for a short period at a time) but this leads to more problems....like babies.
[edit] Excerpts
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