Comic Info
Comic Name: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Rob David/Lloyd Goldfine/Dan Abnett
Artist: Pop Mhan/Tom Derenick
# of Issues: 7
Release Date: 2015
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #16
Reprints He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #13-19 (July 2014-January 2015). Randor is dead, and He-Man finds himself needing the help of his sister Adora to decide the future of Eternia and the battle against Hordak. Travelling to the forbidden Anwat-Gar, Eternia’s past is about to erupt…Adora is about to make a deadly mistake, but it also could be her greatest moment.
Written by Rob David, Lloyd Goldfine, and Dan Abnett, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe 5: The Blood of Grayskull is a follow-up to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe 4: What Lies Within. Following this volume, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe becomes He-Man: Eternity War.
He-Man continues to be a fun comic for fans of the original toys and explores the untapped origins of the characters with goofy names. This volume could essentially be called “The Origin of She-Ra” and shows how Adora is transformed into the female equivalent of her brother while further expanding on the origin of Skeletor.
This story is more coherent than the previous volume that had a lot of randomness thrown in, but it also relies a bit too heavily on “magic” as the cure-all. The comic has some shocking moments like the “death” of He-Man but it seems like everything in Eternia can just be undone. I imagine that many of the characters who have been labeled as “dead” could be resurrected in future volumes in a similar way.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #17
She-Ra is a much more inspiring character than He-Man in the comic. This is ironic because the She-Ra cartoon was much less developed. Here, She-Ra actually has internal conflict, self-doubt, and is generally a much more rounded character than her perfect brother Adam. When He-Man was presumed dead in the comic, I was actually ok with it because I’d rather read about the adventures of Adora.
The Eternity War is set-up in this volume and it is implied that Adam has an almost super-human tie to Grayskull that both Zodac and the Sorceress cannot understand. I worry that Eternity War will use this whole magic thing to take the comic in directions that are “easy outs” for the storyline being set-up. The magic cure-all could easily strike again.
I worry about the future of He-Man. It is a fun comic and feels fresh with each issue, but it doesn’t have much hook for non-fans. With the end of the He-Man series “proper”, I do hope that we get another He-Man title after the Eternity War finishes. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe 5: The Blood of Grayskull is followed by He-Man: Eternity War 1.
Related Links:
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe 1
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe 2: Origins of Eternia
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe 3
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe 4: What Lies Within
He-Man: The Eternity War—Volume 1
