Tales From the 50 Cent Bin! - The Adventures of Superman #624

Hello and hello. Well, I have one more Super-Analogue for the month before the grandness of… some four dudes. Anyway, today’s analogue is another one I really know little about: Mister Majestic aka Lord Majestros. He is also from the Wildstorm Universe exactly like Apollo.  Unlike Apollo (who was apparently a government experiment), Majestic is a Kheribum from another planet. He lived on Earth for centuries and was also fought against the Daemonites. I know he had to have been one of the Wild C.A.T.S. at one time. I actually saw him in one episode of the short-lived animated series from the 90’s.

When Wildstorm was acquired by DC, it was decided to have him interact with the then-current DC universe for a while. He was brought in during a story-arc in Superman that involved time shenanigans.  Also, Superman’s missing for some reason. This was right before the “Godfall” arc, so I guess that’s why he’s missing. The Adventures of Superman #624 was where he made his mark. It was written by both Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. The pencils were done by Karl Kerschl.

The Adventures of Superman #624

Writers: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning

Pencils: Karl Kerschl

Inks: Renato Guedes and Oclair Albert

Colors: Tanya and Richard Horie

Letters: Nick J. Napolitano

Associate Editor: Tom Palmer Jr.

Editor: Eddie Berganza

“Strange New Visitor: Part 2”

Previously, a time storm is ravaging Metropolis and Superman is missing. Lois Lane almost falls to her doom when Majestic saves her. The issue begins with Lois trying to figure out Majestic. He realizes that he is on another Earth, but that means little since he can hear people screaming for help. He leaves Lois to go save some people as Lois calls Perry White about the situation. Some firefighters try talking to Majestic, but it’s clear that he’s a little out of place.

Lois, he could have said you smell like roses.

Meanwhile, other heroes are trying to fix the problem with the time storm. John Henry Irons (formerly known as Steel) is working with scientists to stop the storm. Superboy and Natasha Irons (the new Steel) show up with the Eradicator who may be able to help out. It turns out that the city has a lot of futuristic technology (from an invasion from Brainiac) that may be causing the storm. If they don’t stop it, the storm could possibly wipe out the world. Elsewhere, Majestic is doing his hero thing. He saves folk and even helps Metropolis’s SCU (Special Crimes Unit) take out some villains. He then heads to the Daily Planet where Lois is. After he saves most of the staff, he and Lois talk for a bit about who he is.

Lois then takes him to STAR Labs where the rest of Team Superman is.  John thinks he could be of some use. John shows Majestic a machine that they will use to stop the storm, but Majestic says it might not work. The Eradictor takes offense to that and when the storm hits the lab, the Eradicator decides to use the Phantom Zone Projector on Majestic. Everyone’s aghast at the action, but the Eradicator says that Majestic was accidentally leading the storm to them. Lois wants them to let Majestic out, but they have to put their plan in action now. Steel, Superboy, and the Eradicator take the device to the heart of the storm but the storm starts to get worse. The issue ends as Lois lets Majestic out of the Phantom Zone.

Huh... the Eradicator doing something weird? At least he didn't evaporate him like he did some folk.

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I thought this was a fine issue. It does leave me waiting on how the next issue ends. I actually have the first part to this arc but not the last part. I thought the story was fine as a whole. We basically have a Superman-like character running around Metropolis saving people. It’s something that has been seen before but at least he’s not sporting the ‘S’. I liked how Majestic interacted with everybody. I did wonder why the Eradicator did what he (it?) did. It kind of didn’t make sense to me.

The artwork was fine. I think it’s well done but it didn’t set my feet on fire either. I can definitely tell that it’s influenced by Ed McGinnus’ art style on Superman. Just check out how Majestic looks. The action was pretty cool and I did like some of the smaller moments. I did wonder what was up with the women’s faces though. Overall, this was good. I just wish I could find that last part to the arc.

Majestic actually had a small mini-series after this story-arc where he actually meets Superman and interacts with the rest of the universe. He was then sent back to his universe. I’ve noticed that he didn’t cross over into the New 52 like most Wildstorm characters did. I guess DC wanted to reign in the Superman knockoffs or something. If he did cross over, maybe I didn’t see it. Well, I'm out. Next time is going to be a look at four guys. I will say that three of the four were in this issue, so you should know what's next. Peace, God bless, and don’t let Kryptonian jackasses push you into any Phantom Zones.

NEXT TIME: SUPER REIGN! SOME STAY DRY WHILE OTHERS FEEL THE PAIN!