Say, didn't DC just publish a comic book called Majestic #1 just a few months ago? No, wait, that one was completely different. First of all, it featured the title character alongside the Man of Steel... oh, same thing here. Well, that previous comic was written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lann... what? Oh, same writers. Same cover artists, for that matter. Well, there's new interior artists. That counts for something, right? ... Right? OK, so there's no reason for this comic not to be the fifth issue of that previous series rather than the first of a new title; I'll get over it. The storytelling is rather standard super-hero fare, albeit on a grander scale, but by the end of the issue, the plotting is painfully predictable.
The Eradicator now has the ability to tap into the Bleed, the limbo between dimensions, and find temporary portals to those parallel worlds. He's found a way home to the Wildstorm Univese for Majestic, and he and Superman accompany the disaplced hero back to his reality. There, the trio of powerhouses discover an intact planet that just happens to be devoid of all animal life, and they set out to solve the mystery of what happened to life on Earth. While no one is left around, the heroes do discover something has been left behind... a whole lot of somethings with some rather violent intent.
Though I miss the pencils of Karl Kerschl (but won't have to for long, given he's headed to one of the regular Superman titles), the unfortunately named Mike Googe does a fine job of capturing the power and, well, majesty of the larger-than-life figures who tear their way through this story. The metallic foes are rather generic in design, but Googe pours a lot of detail into them. Googe does a great job of finally establishment of scope of the threat with the final splash page, aided by some sharp computer-coloring effects. My favorite visual component here, and one of my favorites in the previous Majestic series, is the sharp computer font that's used for the Eradicator's dialogue. Mind you, it's so minute at times here that it's difficult to make it all out.
The plot, though apocalyptic in nature, is actually quite simple... a little too simple, truth be told. Majestic gets dropped off in his home universe and faces an immediate threat that only he can deal with. The immensity of the idea is interesting, but this issue is basically a whole lot of robots being punched and blasted by supermen. And that's all. It's far too familiar, and the plot really needs some spicing up to get me to continuity reading the series.
The other thing that's lacking is the emotional side of the story. When last we saw Majestic, he was settling into life on Earth as part of a family. Here, there's no mention of those people, no hint of the burgeoning humanity that Majestros was beginning to discover within himself. 6/10
