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MPH (comics)

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MPH
Connecting variant covers of MPH #2 (June 2014), depicting the characters of the Millarworld Universe; art by Leinil Francis Yu.
Publication information
PublisherImage Comics
ScheduleMonthly/Bi-monthly
FormatLimited series
Publication dateMay 2014 – February 2015
No. of issues5
Main character(s)
  • Roscoe Rodriguez
  • Rosa Cruz
  • Chevy
  • Jiggy "Baseball" Cruz
Creative team
Created byMark Millar[1]
Duncan Fegredo
Written byMark Millar
Artist(s)Duncan Fegredo
Letterer(s)Peter Doherty
Colorist(s)Peter Doherty
Editor(s)Jennifer Lee
Collected editions
MPHISBN 978-163215-2657

MPH (Miles Per Hour) is a British heist-action-thriller comic book limited series written by Mark Millar and illustrated by Duncan Fegredo. Published by Image Comics, the series is set in the Millarworld,[2][3] with its events being first referenced in 2014's Kick-Ass: The Dave Lizewski Years – Book Four.[4] Described as "The Fast and the Furious without cars",[5][6] the series follows a group of early-20s criminals who on discovering a drug that gives them super-speed, use it to go on a series of grand heists, while pursued by a government agency with a mysterious speedster of their own. The series, originally published between May 21, 2014, and February 18, 2015, was collected as a graphic novel on April 22, 2015.[7] Characters from the series would later return in the miniseries Big Game in 2023. Receiving a generally positive critical reception, both a comic book sequel and feature film adaptation of the series has been in development hell since its initial publication.

Premise

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When Motor City criminal Roscoe Rodriguez stumbles upon a street drug called MPH, he gains the power of super-speed, using it to break out of prison and with his friends form a group of working class criminals to go on a series of high-octane urban adventures as bank robbers, while pursued by the forces of DENO and the mysterious Mr. Springfield.[8][9] While the initial announcement of the series described it as a six-issue series following teenagers, the final five-issue series saw the majority of its protagonists be in their early-to-mid 20s.[10][11]

Characters

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Connecting variant covers of MPH #1 (May 2014), depicting the Runners: Baseball (Jiggy Cruz), Chevy, Rosa Cruz, and Roscoe Rodriguez; art by Duncan Fegredo.
The Runners
  • Roscoe Rodriguez – A low-level criminal obsessed with vision boards who breaks out of prison on gaining super-speed from the experimental drug "MPH", one pill of which provides the user a day of the power, which Roscoe uses to make him and his loved ones rich by becoming high-profile bank robbers and America's Most Wanted. Originally named "Roscoe Vasquez" throughout the development of MPH, the character was renamed by Mark Millar before final publication to have a more alliterative name.[2]
  • Rosa Cruz – Roscoe's girlfriend, a Jeet Kune Do expert with whom he shares his super-speed, who tries to keep her younger brother "Baseball" out of the criminal lifestyle after the death of their other brother, Roberto.
  • Chevy – Roscoe's best friend, with whom he shares his super-speed. Having previously been secretly in love with Rosa, he develops a god complex from his use of the pills, coming to blows with Roscoe and Rosa after they give away their money.
  • "Baseball" – Rosa's sixteen-year-old little brother, a would-be gangster whom she rescues from a life of crime. Baseball's full name (and in-turn Rosa's surname), "Jiggy Cruz", was revealed in the final issue as the result of a charity competition held by Mark Millar to allow a fan to name an MPH character after themselves, a competition Millar had previously used to name characters in Kick-Ass, Nemesis, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Starlight, and Jupiter's Legacy.[12][13]
DENO
  • "Mr. Springfield" – The world's first and only known superhuman, an apparent pre-cog who crashed into Missouri at super-speed in 1986 before being arrested by the government, who has been living in luxury house arrest under the confine of DENO in Arizona for the past 29 years.[14] Mr. Springfield would return in a cameo appearance in the 2023 limited series Big Game.
  • Special Agent Cutler – An agent of the United States Department of Extra-Normal Operations (DENO), assigned to Mr. Springfield.
  • Kat – the head of DENO.
Other

Reception

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Issue # Publication date Critic rating Critic reviews Ref.
1 May 2014 6.9/10 23 [16]
2 June 2014 7.6/10 14 [17]
3 September 2014 8.0/10 4 [18]
4 November 2014 7.6/10 4 [19]
5 February 2015 8.6/10 4 [20]
Overall 7.7/10 49 [21]

Adaptation

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Ahead of its initial publication, MPH was optioned for feature film adaptation by Lorenzo di Bonaventura in April 2014,[22] who Mark Millar said to be "somebody I've always wanted to work with on one of the bigger Millarworld adaptations",[23][24] with the project ultimately entering development hell.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ Forbidden Planet Staff (May 25, 2014). "Mark Millar & Duncan Fegredo Launch MPH". Forbidden Planet. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Ernenputsch, John (May 19, 2014). "Interview: Millar Speeds Ahead With MPH & Millarworld". Comicosity. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  3. ^ Phegley, Kiel (April 4, 2014). "Mark Millar Makes "MPH" His American Superhero Story". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  4. ^ Graeme, McMillan (January 30, 2014). "Mark Millar Cites Marvel Inspirations for New Millarworld Universe". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  5. ^ Kit, Borys (September 12, 2013). "With New 'MPH', Mark Millar Reveals Superhero Universe Ambitions (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 12, 2013.
  6. ^ Phegley, Kiel (September 13, 2013). "Millar & Fegredo Speed Into Millarworld with "MPH"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
  7. ^ Millar, Mark (w), Fegredo, Duncan (a). MPH, vol. .1 (April 22, 2015). Portland, Oregon: Image Comics. Retrieved on April 22, 2015.
  8. ^ Wilding, Josh (April 3, 2014). "Advance Review: Mark Millar And Duncan Fegredo's MPH #1". Comic Book Movie. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
  9. ^ Ostrowski, Vince (May 23, 2014). "Review: MPH #1". Multiversity Comics. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  10. ^ "MPH (2014–2015)". Publishers Weekly. April 22, 2015. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
  11. ^ Winkley, Thomas (July 2, 2015). "Review: MPH". SLUG Magazine. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
  12. ^ Pollard, Andrew (January 20, 2015). "Mark Millar Auctioning Off the Name of MPH Lead Character". Starburst Magazine. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  13. ^ Armitage, Hugh (January 21, 2015). "Mark Millar launches new charity auction to name a character in MPH". Digital Spy. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
  14. ^ Hawley, Brad (July 25, 2015). "Review: MPH by Mark Millar and Duncan Fegredo". Fantasy Literature. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  15. ^ Phegley, Kiel (January 30, 2014). "Exclusive: Millar Unveils Millarworld From "MPH" To Hitch & Murphy". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on January 31, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  16. ^ "MPH #1 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  17. ^ "MPH #2 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2014-06-18.
  18. ^ "MPH #3 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2014-09-10.
  19. ^ "MPH #4 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2014-11-12.
  20. ^ "MPH #5 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2015-02-18.
  21. ^ "MPH (2014–2015) Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2015-04-22.
  22. ^ Armitage, Hugh (April 25, 2014). "Mark Millar, Duncan Fegredo's MPH optioned by Transformers producer". Digital Spy. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  23. ^ Lovett, Jamie (April 25, 2014). "Mark Millar's MPH Optioned For A Movie". ComicBook.com. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  24. ^ Kit, Borys (April 25, 2014). "Mark Millar Comic 'MPH', Optioned by Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
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