The Midas Flesh

The Midas Flesh is a 2014 comic book limited series by Ryan North, with art by Braden Lamb and Shelli Paroline, exploring the legend of King Midas within a science fictional context. It ran for 8 issues, and was published by Boom! Studios.

Synopsis

Millennia after King Midas accidentally transformed the Earth into gold and killed all life on the planet, fugitives from an oppressive galactic civilization arrive, seeking to use his still-intact corpse as a weapon.

Reception

ComicsAlliance called it "funny, imaginative and remarkably dramatic" and "probably North's most serious work to date".[1] Las Vegas Weekly praised the "relaxed, witty style" of the dialogue, but noted that the story had "more comedy and probably more fantasy (...) than hard science [fiction]".[2] At Comic Book Resources, Kelly Thompson lauded it as "absolutely engaging and heart-stopping", with protagonists who are "charming, lovable, and desperately heroic", and art that was "clean and crisp, with an emphasis on excellent character acting and smooth functional storytelling";[3] Thompson did, however, fault the series' conclusion as "a bit of a deus ex machina", saying that since the story "relied heavily on science and smart decisions", it was "frustrating" to have gods appear, even if they had been established as part of the initial worldbuilding and do not actually "save the day".[4]

The series was a finalist for the 2015 Joe Shuster Award, 'Comics for Kids' category.[5]

History

North has stated that his inspiration for The Midas Flesh was a 2008 installment of his webcomic Dinosaur Comics, in which he described the basic plot; "shortly after", he wrote the first version of the comic's script. He has credited the experience of writing that script (which he describes as having had a "really cool" story, but "cardboard [characters] I didn't like") as having given him the confidence to accept Boom! Studios' offer to write the comic book adaptation of Adventure Time.[6]

References
  1. Best Comic Books Ever (This Week): New Releases For June 24 2015; published June 24, 2015; retrieved August 19, 2021
  2. ‘The Midas Flesh’ delivers sci-fi with a smile, by J. Caleb Mozzocco; at Las Vegas Weekly; published December 17, 2014; retrieved August 19, 2021
  3. The Midas Flesh #7, reviewed by Kelly Thompson, at Comic Book Resources; published June 30, 2014; retrieved August 19, 2021
  4. The Midas Flesh #8, reviewed by Kelly Thompson, at Comic Book Resources; published July 28, 2014; retrieved August 19, 2021
  5. 2015 Nominees and Winners, at the Joe Shuster Awards; retrieved August 19, 2021
  6. Ryan North Gives "The Midas Flesh" A Shine For BOOM!, by TJ Dietsch, at Comic Book Resources; published October 22, 2013; retrieved August 19, 2021
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