Review: Mr Majestic Vol. 1 (Part 1)
Feb. 12th, 2023 07:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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theneverendingbattleWow, it's been forever since I've done a comic review! While I usually cover Superfamily comics in these reviews, I thought I'd take a little journey off the beaten path today and instead cover one of the many "copycat" Supermen that appear in other titles and universes. My first target: Majestros, aka Mr Majestic, from the Wildstorm universe of comics.
I was already vaguely familiar with this character from his brief guest appearance in the "Strange New Visitor" story arc in the Superman titles. Recently, though, I stumbled across the 90's series Mr Majestic on the DCUI app and decided I'd give it a try. This is actually my first delve into the Wildstorm Universe, so (like a lot of adventures into the comic book world) I went into this thing with absolutely no clue who these characters are or what their story is about.
Since I've been sorely neglecting the comic reviews portion of the NeverEndingBattle site, I figured I'd review this series as I read it. There are nine issues overall and I'll be covering three per review. Let's dive in!
Issue #1: Cosmology
Summary: When a mysterious intergalactic threat picks our solar system as its next target, the governments of the world task Mr Majestic with protecting Earth from destruction. To do this, he must pull off the seemingly impossible mission of disguising the solar system.
My thoughts: Okay, so I usually give a little leeway when reading first issues. After all, the writer has to introduce us to the world, the characters, and set up any plot threads or stories that will be explored throughout the series. It's a lot. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how uncomplicated this first issue was. Maybe they expected their readers to already be familiar with the setting from other Wildstorm titles, but there was very little in the way of exposition. They get the basics across -- the main hero is an alien of incredible power, his sidekick/partner is a cybernetic human computer, and the hero feels a sense of responsibility to the Earth even though he has trouble actually understanding or connecting with humans. It's enough info to move forward with and I'm content to wait for more backstory as we go.
As for the story itself, it wasn't spectacular by any means, but I enjoyed it for what it was. A very fun little sci-fi adventure with big stakes but more introspection than action. The art was quite good, and I loved all the space panels with Majestic trying to disguise the various planets. The more somber feel to the story and the almost philosophical quality to the narration immediately brought to mind sci-fi shows like Star Trek and Doctor Who (during its good seasons). I like it. I'm hoping for a little more action eventually, but I didn't mind the lack of punching bad guys in this one. Especially since the vast scope of what Majestic was pulling off in this story already gave me an idea what kind of power level he has.
The characters are where I got a little hung up. Remember, I'm coming into this completely blind. I don't know who Majestic or Desmond are. And, after this first issue, I still don't feel like I know who they are. Hopefully, there will be more character building moments in other issues. Until then, I at least appreciated Desmond's casual cynicism; it added a nice layer of humor to the otherwise serious story.
My rating: 6/10
Issue #2: Repeating History
Summary: Famous historic figures are reappearing all over the world, major events are replaying in a modern setting, and time seems to be folding in on itself. Majestic and Desmond attempt to track down the source of these temporal anomalies, but the price they have to pay to save the world may be too high.
My thoughts: I'm going back to what I'd said on the previous issue. This series feels like hardcore sci-fi shows at their finest. I feel like this could easily have been the plot of an episode of Stargate SG-1 or ST: The Next Generation. Also, I'm a sucker for time travel (or similar) concepts in stories, so I was already hooked from the beginning. I think what really pushed this issue above being just okay for me was the ending. I was not expecting such a dark resolution to the problem. I appreciate it, though, because I think it was a good way of showing the readers early on exactly what kind of heroes Majestros and Desmond are, and what sort of stance they'll take in the face of potentially world-ending disasters. It was a very sobering finale to an otherwise lighthearted tale.
My rating: 8/10
Issue #3: Excessive Violence: Viewer Discretion Advised
Summary: A former teammate of Majestros, a cybernetic being named Maxine, invites him out to the movies. Their date night is interrupted by a group of robots who want Maxine dead.
My thoughts: Ah, here it is. This issue finally brought what I've been waiting for: characterization! I feel like most people would complain about an entire issue of a series being taken up by "filler" material and little actual action or story, but this is exactly what I've been needing to see. Here we get an entire issue of Majestros (or "Maj" as he seems to be called by his friends?) just being himself. And you know what? I think I finally understand him as a character. Up to this point, I've been wondering if his somewhat cold, detached attitude was the result of the writers not putting a lot of effort into exploring his character beyond his hero persona. Nope, that's apparently just who he is. And, okay, fair enough. He's an outsider living on Earth, but having a hard time truly connecting with or understanding the people of this planet. (Same, buddy. I feel your pain.) He wants to help, and has shown a great deal of empathy for others, but he doesn't really understand others. I actually like that concept for a superhero. I appreciate the writers acknowledging that its possible to care about people even if you can't connect with them on a personal level. I'll probably end up writing a whole meta post about this on my own journal, so that's as much as I'll tangent about it now. Suffice to say that I finally get where this character is coming from, and that's all I've really been asking for.
As for the story itself? Well, to be honest, there isn't much of one. The conversations between Maxine and Maj are interesting and delve into a lot of thought-provoking topics, but aren't really related to anything happening in the series overall. There's a heaping ton of meta humor as well. Some of it lands and is quite hilarious, other attempts fall a little flat or feel overdone. There's a self-proclaimed obligatory action sequence at the end that's okay but way too low-stakes to get invested in. On a side note, Desmond didn't appear in this issue at all, so I'm hoping for a character piece on him in the near future.
My rating: 5/10
I was already vaguely familiar with this character from his brief guest appearance in the "Strange New Visitor" story arc in the Superman titles. Recently, though, I stumbled across the 90's series Mr Majestic on the DCUI app and decided I'd give it a try. This is actually my first delve into the Wildstorm Universe, so (like a lot of adventures into the comic book world) I went into this thing with absolutely no clue who these characters are or what their story is about.
Since I've been sorely neglecting the comic reviews portion of the NeverEndingBattle site, I figured I'd review this series as I read it. There are nine issues overall and I'll be covering three per review. Let's dive in!
Issue #1: Cosmology
Summary: When a mysterious intergalactic threat picks our solar system as its next target, the governments of the world task Mr Majestic with protecting Earth from destruction. To do this, he must pull off the seemingly impossible mission of disguising the solar system.
My thoughts: Okay, so I usually give a little leeway when reading first issues. After all, the writer has to introduce us to the world, the characters, and set up any plot threads or stories that will be explored throughout the series. It's a lot. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how uncomplicated this first issue was. Maybe they expected their readers to already be familiar with the setting from other Wildstorm titles, but there was very little in the way of exposition. They get the basics across -- the main hero is an alien of incredible power, his sidekick/partner is a cybernetic human computer, and the hero feels a sense of responsibility to the Earth even though he has trouble actually understanding or connecting with humans. It's enough info to move forward with and I'm content to wait for more backstory as we go.
As for the story itself, it wasn't spectacular by any means, but I enjoyed it for what it was. A very fun little sci-fi adventure with big stakes but more introspection than action. The art was quite good, and I loved all the space panels with Majestic trying to disguise the various planets. The more somber feel to the story and the almost philosophical quality to the narration immediately brought to mind sci-fi shows like Star Trek and Doctor Who (during its good seasons). I like it. I'm hoping for a little more action eventually, but I didn't mind the lack of punching bad guys in this one. Especially since the vast scope of what Majestic was pulling off in this story already gave me an idea what kind of power level he has.
The characters are where I got a little hung up. Remember, I'm coming into this completely blind. I don't know who Majestic or Desmond are. And, after this first issue, I still don't feel like I know who they are. Hopefully, there will be more character building moments in other issues. Until then, I at least appreciated Desmond's casual cynicism; it added a nice layer of humor to the otherwise serious story.
My rating: 6/10
Issue #2: Repeating History
Summary: Famous historic figures are reappearing all over the world, major events are replaying in a modern setting, and time seems to be folding in on itself. Majestic and Desmond attempt to track down the source of these temporal anomalies, but the price they have to pay to save the world may be too high.
My thoughts: I'm going back to what I'd said on the previous issue. This series feels like hardcore sci-fi shows at their finest. I feel like this could easily have been the plot of an episode of Stargate SG-1 or ST: The Next Generation. Also, I'm a sucker for time travel (or similar) concepts in stories, so I was already hooked from the beginning. I think what really pushed this issue above being just okay for me was the ending. I was not expecting such a dark resolution to the problem. I appreciate it, though, because I think it was a good way of showing the readers early on exactly what kind of heroes Majestros and Desmond are, and what sort of stance they'll take in the face of potentially world-ending disasters. It was a very sobering finale to an otherwise lighthearted tale.
My rating: 8/10
Issue #3: Excessive Violence: Viewer Discretion Advised
Summary: A former teammate of Majestros, a cybernetic being named Maxine, invites him out to the movies. Their date night is interrupted by a group of robots who want Maxine dead.
My thoughts: Ah, here it is. This issue finally brought what I've been waiting for: characterization! I feel like most people would complain about an entire issue of a series being taken up by "filler" material and little actual action or story, but this is exactly what I've been needing to see. Here we get an entire issue of Majestros (or "Maj" as he seems to be called by his friends?) just being himself. And you know what? I think I finally understand him as a character. Up to this point, I've been wondering if his somewhat cold, detached attitude was the result of the writers not putting a lot of effort into exploring his character beyond his hero persona. Nope, that's apparently just who he is. And, okay, fair enough. He's an outsider living on Earth, but having a hard time truly connecting with or understanding the people of this planet. (Same, buddy. I feel your pain.) He wants to help, and has shown a great deal of empathy for others, but he doesn't really understand others. I actually like that concept for a superhero. I appreciate the writers acknowledging that its possible to care about people even if you can't connect with them on a personal level. I'll probably end up writing a whole meta post about this on my own journal, so that's as much as I'll tangent about it now. Suffice to say that I finally get where this character is coming from, and that's all I've really been asking for.
As for the story itself? Well, to be honest, there isn't much of one. The conversations between Maxine and Maj are interesting and delve into a lot of thought-provoking topics, but aren't really related to anything happening in the series overall. There's a heaping ton of meta humor as well. Some of it lands and is quite hilarious, other attempts fall a little flat or feel overdone. There's a self-proclaimed obligatory action sequence at the end that's okay but way too low-stakes to get invested in. On a side note, Desmond didn't appear in this issue at all, so I'm hoping for a character piece on him in the near future.
My rating: 5/10
