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MR. MAJESTIC TP
Recommended (8/10)
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DC Comics/Wildstorm Productions
Writers: Joe Casey, Brian Holguin & Alan Moore
Pencils: Ed
McGuinness & Carlos D'Anda
Inks: Jason Martin & Richard Friend
Colors: Digital Chameleon
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Jeff Mariotte
Price: $14.95 US |
Before they came on to tackle the real deal, Joe Casey and Ed McGuinness (along with Brian Holguin and Jason Martin) took a shot at Superman with Wildstorm's Mr. Majestic, a thinly-veiled approximation of the character. Ironically enough, their work here far surpasses the work they've done with the actual Superman. Mr. Majestic was
intelligent and fun entertainment, and in its short-lived run, it was on the
reading lists of everyone from Warren Ellis to Terry Moore. The stories range
from grand cosmic ideas, such as moving the solar system to hide it, to more
raucous and human fare like Majestic and the mad cyborg Ladytron enjoying a
night of drinking and movies. McGuinness's energetic art style was terrific for
depicting the big ideas and grand scope of the stories. And as a bonus, the
trade includes a fantastic Alan Moore/Carlos D'Anda story of Majestic at the end
of time, one of the true classic "not really Superman, but c'mon" stories that
Moore did during this period.
Casey and Holguin put Majestic
through his paces as a cosmic character in these stories, but they do it with a
sense of humor and with an eye towards making him human. In the course of their
stories, he moves a solar system, stops a time anomaly, fights an intergalactic
prison break and raises the dead. However, he also has a night out with a rowdy
friend and spends some quality time with a long-lost son. There was a nice
balance of the personal and the cosmic, the action-oriented and the
philosophical. The story of Majestic's son is a story about a time anomaly that
threatens the universe, but it's also about familial love and loss. The night
out with Ladytron is about beer and movies, but it's also about the nature of
artificial life.
In addition, there's a great
sense of humor about this book. The interplay between Majestic and his
child-genius support staff is a lot of fun, and the story with Majestic and
Ladytron in particular is full of humor. The irony of a fight sequence breaking
out in the comic as two characters discuss how you have to have a fight sequence
in movies or Maxine's reaction to "mechanical abuse" are both really good
examples.
I've never been that big of a McGuinness fan, and I thought his balloony-style artwork was going to be ill-suited to a book about a cosmic adventurer like Majestic. He does cosmic much better than I would have expected, but what he really brings to this is a sort of animated fun that comes through in his work. It comes through in the style of the artwork itself; that this stuff is fun, that you should be smiling when you read it. It's why he worked so well on Deadpool, and it's why he works so well here. His action
sequences are also impressive, particularly Majestic facing down the prison
break or Majestic and Ladytron facing down radical members of the Church of
Gort.
Leaving aside the really fun and well-crafted stories that make up the bulk of the book, the trade paperback is almost worth it for the Alan Moore story alone. It's a haunting story of the last man in the universe, wandering and trying to remember a universe that is long gone. The surprise finale will be a special treat for fans of Wildcats, but really doesn't require knowledge of those
characters to enjoy. And Carlos D'Anda does some fantastic work on the artwork.
I'm surprised and pleased that DC saw fit to reprint this cult favorite series, which never reached the sales success it deserved. Those who have enjoyed Casey's best work, such as his work on Wildcats, would be well-advised to check this one
out as well.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board. |
