CREDIT: DC Comics
Rating: 3.5/5 – Good Story But Should Provide a Recap for New Readers.
by ComicSpectrum senior reviewer Shawn Hoklas.
I haven’t been following DC’s take one He-Man and the Masters of the Universe since the series began back in 2012. I’ve always been a fan of the property and have fond memories of the toys when i was a kid, spending countless hours with the figures and play sets so when I saw the cover to He-Man: The Eternity War, those great childhood memories came flooding back and I decided to pick up the first issue. Although I was confused for much of this first issue, it did enough to make me want to go back and read the previous series.
Back in August, DC announced that the previous He-Man series would be cancelled and replaced with this one. Unfortunately DC doesn’t include a recap, or what’s come previously page to help out new readers, I guess they just assume that if you’re a MotU fan you obviously read their previous series. That being said, despite my confusion writer Dan Abnett does a nice job of telling a nice backstory including some origins of King and Castle Grayskull, as well as touching on motivations behind the main villain Hordack. It’s a fun book that captures the fun of the cartoon and it’s fantastic characters, while also being serious enough to cater to a wide audience.
Normally I haven’t always been a fan of artist Pop Mhan, but here, I can not wait to see more. His depiction of the numerous amounts of characters involved are both detailed and exciting. Adding to the art are the colors by Mark Roberts. Greens, purples and orange dominate the color palette in the best way, and the depiction of Grayskull and Snake Mountain using these colors to their fullest potential are a pleasure to look at. The art takes on a more cartoony feel which seems right for a book and story like this and the last page reveal, done in a full page splash, should have long-time MotU fans excited for the next issue.
He-Man: The Eternity War is an exciting start to a new series that seems like a great continuation from the previous series, but may leave new readers guessing as to what may have come before like it did for me. Although it doesn’t cater to the new reader as much as it could (and probably should as a #1 issue), the story was still enjoyable and includes plenty of the property’s most compelling characters and ideas. Time to scour those back issue bins to catch up on all that I’ve missed.
Reviewed by: Shawn Hoklas
(shawn@comicspectrum.com)
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