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Shilo Norman was a student and successor of the first Mister Miracle, Scott Free.

Origin

Abandoned by his mother when he was only an infant, Shilo Norman's desire to escape was fostered in an abusive orphanage. He eventually ran away and ended up on the streets, where he was informally taken in by Thaddeus Brown, the original Mister Miracle. Brown was later murdered by the mobster Steel Hand, and Norman aided his successor Scott Free in taking over the mantle and avenging Brown's death.

Later, Norman learned that he had an older brother, a policeman named Aaron, and tried to foster a relationship with him. However, this was cut short went a gang member shot Aaron, killing him. Norman was placed in Free's custody, but escaped in an attempt to get revenge. Fortunately, Scott Free and his wife Barda stopped the boy from doing anything too rash.

Last Laugh

Norman went on to study physics and comparative philosophy at NYU, and even had a girlfriend by the name of Fiona Leeway. He also briefly stood in for Scott Free as the third Mister Miracle. Some time later, he put his knowledge of escape artistry to use as the security chief at the Slab, where he was instrumental in helping to stop the Last Laugh riots. Following the riots, he was promoted to warden of the Slab.

Seven Soldiers

Shilo then took his skills public as a celebrity escape artist called Mister Miracle. He gained money and fame, but began to suffer from anxiety. During this period his stunts began to border on the suicidal, culminating in his attempt to escape from an artificially-generated black hole.

Within the black hole, Shilo was exposed to a fictional version of the real world, where he became involved in the affairs of the New Gods, now trapped in human bodies in New York following a "War in Heaven". Norman fought against Darkseid and his associates, who had become powerful in the New York underworld. The other New Gods had been trapped as homeless and vagrants. When Norman tried to fight Darkseid, he was exposed to the Anti-Life Equation; however, he survived thanks to Metron. Regardless, Darkseid had Norman beaten, burned, mutilated and castrated, as well as exposing him to the "Omega Sanction".

Trapped within the Omega Sanction, Shilo was exposed to a multiple false lives, all of them ending in doom and heartbreak. However, Norman's time with the New Gods was enough to strengthen him, letting him talk the physical embodiment of Omega into letting him go.

Shilo then realized that he was still in the black hole he thought he escaped one week ago. Metron appears before him and explains that he has survived his initiation into the New Gods. He then asks Mister Miracle to go further, return to the world and save everyone.[1]

After seven days, he emerged in New York in the middle of the Sheeda invasion. He immediately made his way to the Dark Side Club, and found out that Darkseid had arranged his entrapment at the request of the Sheeda, in exchange for them giving him the primordial hero Aurakles. Shilo Norman made a deal with Darkseid—his freedom in exchange for Aurakles'. Taking this offer, Darkseid freed Aurakles, put Norman in shackles and shot him. However, Norman's mysterious Motherbox allowed him to survive, climbing out of his own grave three days later.[2] Norman later aided Firestorm against the forces of Apokolips.[3]

Final Crisis

 Main article: Final Crisis

Norman approached Sonny Sumo, hoping to enlist him for the fight against Darkseid. After Darkseid took control of the world, Norman worked with the Super Young Team against his soldiers. He led this team to Checkmate's last stronghold where he was shot by a trigger-happy pawn.[4] Fortunately, Norman survived due to wearing a impact-proof vest and informed Earth's resistance of Darkseid's intentions to destroying the universe and how to stop him.[5]

Shilo, Sonny, and the Super Young Team were then summoned by Nix Uotan to fight against Mandrakk the Dark Monitor.[6]


Abilities

  • Acrobatics: Shilo was trained by Scott Free and Thaddeus Brown in the ways of the theatrical escape artist. These were both life lessons, societal lessons as well as professional lessons.
  • Escapology: Shilo Norman is a highly-skilled escape artist trained by Scott Free himself. Shilo learned early of his passion for escaping and tried a number of times to escape different scenarios even as a young child. Shilo shows his proficiency on occasion by becoming a world-wide known Escape Artist as well as escaping the Omega Sanction in its purest form as a Life Trap; a feat he shared with Batman.
  • Indomitable Will: Shilo has stated that he had God Sight during one of his adventures. While this might have been more of a metaphysical statement during his time in the Life Trap it did show his prowess in not being conquered as he was able to free himself from the Life Trap and commanding the forces of the Motherbox with ease.
  • Philosophy: Norman studied physics and comparative philosophy
  • Physics: Norman studied physics and comparative philosophy

Other Characteristics

  • Anxiety: Norman previously suffered from anxiety stemming from the murder of his older brother.

Equipment


  • Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.
  • Shilo Norman cannot remember getting his Mother Box from Scott Free. This is possibly a result of Darkseid's meddling with history.
  • Shilo Norman is immune to the effects of the Anti-Life Equation following his freeing from it by Metron of the New Gods.

Related

Footnotes


Seven Soldiers II 01
Seven Soldiers of Victory member
DC Bullet 2024

This character is or was a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory, or the Seven Soldiers in any of its various incarnations, created during World War II and later, it returned to battle time-traveling, dimension-spanning mysteries and monsters.
This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Seven Soldiers of Victory members" category.

New Gods 02
Jack Kirby's Fourth World
DC Bullet 2024

This character or group of characters are related to Jack Kirby's Fourth World, either the original concept and group of titles by Jack Kirby, or any of their subsequent adaptations by other creators. This template will categorize articles that include it into the Fourth World Characters category.

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