Ript Apparel has three new designs. Ghost Park, Miskeletor Myah, and Wonderlands from Donnie, carbine, and saqman will be for sale on June 23, 2015 only!
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site.
It was new comic book day yesterday! What’d everyone get? What have you liked so far?
Around the Tubes
Washington Post – Revenge of the nerds? ‘Magic: The Gathering’ thief caught in elaborate trap. – Awesome.
Kotaku – He-Man And G.I. Joe In One Game? Sold. – This sounds cool.
Around the Tubes Reviews
Comic Vine – 1602 Witch Hunter Angela #1
Comic Vine – Batman #41
CBR – Batman #41
Comic Vine – Birthright #8
Comic Vine – Catwoman #41
Comic Vine – Constantine: The Hellblazer #1
Comic Vine – Detective Comics #41
ICv2 – Trinity Seven Vol. 1: The Seven Magicians
The Beat – Weirdworld #1
Talking Comics – Weirdworld #1
Ript Apparel has three new designs today. Chimichanga Tuesday, Experiment Gremlins, and Myah! from AtomicRocket, vale.vfKff, and TeoZ will be for sale on June 2, 2015 only!
Chimichanga Tuesday by AtomicRocket
Experiment Gremlins by vale.vfKff
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site.
For those that might look at Eternity War as a He-Man related comic event, they would only be partially correct. The powers that be at Mattel have been working hand in hand with the comic creators to tell a story that is above and beyond what has come before, and in so doing has looked some of the archetypes of hero and villain. So far it has been examined why exactly Skeletor feels the need to switch sides to being aligned with the heroes, but this issue takes on a different theme, that of the superhero and the secret identity. The Prince Adam secret identity of He-Man has been one which has been with the hero since the onset, and helped to appeal the story to some from a storytelling standpoint. The idea of nobility having a double life as a hero is nothing new, it comes from sources such as Zorro and the Scarlet Pimpernel, and even from Batman, but the need for the secret identity has never been examined as it has here.
The majority of this issue acts as a flash forward for the characters. An older He-Man rules absolutely over Eternia, but as they say absolute power corrupts absolutely, and a short vignette of the actions of this are explained here. In so doing it looks not only at the character but also at the superhero medium as a whole. In a world where so many superheroes are super powered operatives whose identities are known, this issue helps to make the case why secret identities are still a valuable part of hero’s lives.
This may not be the most hard hitting of the issues thus far in the series, but there is much to be said for the approach of the creative team. While earlier issues focused almost wholly on epic battles, the focus has changed drastically to being something much different. Now the characters are examining not only who they are, but also almost breaking the fourth wall to examine some issues beyond. Thus while this issue lacks a true hook in terms of plot development it fits neatly in the sequence of this series.
Story: Rob David and Dan Abnett Art: Pop Mhan
Story: 8.8 Art: 8.8 Overall: 8.8 Recommendation: Buy
Graphic Policy: The Masters of the Universe carries with it so much pre-existing stories but also cliches of the characters as being for kids. How do you approach this series to break through that?
GP: In terms of writing a battle focused story, how do you balance the story so that the battles do not overwhelm the plot?
GP: This series focuses less on the difference between Prince Adam and He-Man. Is that less important for the character than it has been in the past?Following the critically acclaimed release of The Art of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Dark Horse and Mattel have teamed up once again to deliver another must-have book in 2015: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Minicomic Collection.
The toy juggernaut Masters of the Universe and its subsequent action figure lines featured memorable pack-in minicomics that aided in playtime for children across the world. Clocking in at 1,232 pages, this impressive oversized hardcover collection features sixty-eight US releases, including all minicomics from the ’80s Masters of the Universe line, the ’80s Princess of Power line, and the ’80s and ’90s He-Man line, plus an introduction to the minicomics in the current Masters of the Universe Classics toy line—all in production order. Relive the illustrated adventures that fueled your imagination!
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Minicomics Collection is on sale October 21 in comic shops and November 3 in bookstores.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Minicomic Collection HC
Tim Seeley (W), Steven Grant (W), Phil White (W), Gary Cohn (W), Michael Halperin (W), Scott Neitlich (W), Bruce Timm (A), Mark Texeira (A), Larry Houston (A), Jim Mitchell (A), and Charles Simpson (C)
FC, 1232 pages
HC, 6” x 9”
$29.99, 978-1616558772
The latest run of He-Man in his own title has perhaps been the best representation of the character thus far in his experience in popular culture. This run focused a more mature approach to the character which aims to highlight both the strengths of the sci-fi/fantasy mix while also presenting characters that are far more approachable for those who are not fans of the character. That is to say that He-Man has achieved a degree of quality which does not depend on the character himself for the stories, but rather the characters and his allies and enemies simply populate the stories which would be equally strong in other cases. This story first approach is one which benefits most series and characters, and it has been especially highlighted with the Eternity War miniseries.
The most recent issue of Eternity War was one of contrasts. While it was overall pretty well put together, it nonetheless had a few of the common problems often associated with comics as a medium. In this case it was specifically the near death of She-Ra, a little bit of a reduction of a powerful female character to a damsel-in-distress like sidekick. Although the series seemed to be veering down a well trodden road, it takes this same development and turns it around in this issue in an unforeseen and entirely inventive turn. It reintroduces the old DC comics concept known as hypertime (even mentioning it by name) and in the process features what must be the first in continuity appearance of an action figure in the medium. The rest of the issue pushes the plot forward, as well as given the He-Man fans something to be excited about, in a “will they or won’t they?” context, in the last few pages.
The creative teram continues to reimagine the characters of the Masters of the Universe in this interesting issue. While the plot itself is maybe a bit more commonplace, the tricks that they pull out of their bag are not, even breaking what fans might consider the regular boundaries of the fourth wall. The end result is an issue which once again proves that this new take on the character is for real and deserves attention.
Story: Rob David and Dan Abnett Art: Pop Mhan
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy
Ript Apparel has three new designs today. Crossbow, Use the (tri)Force, and The Sound Of MYAAAAH! from RicoMambo, AtomicRocket, and wytrab8 will be for sale on April 23, 2015 only!
Use the (tri)Force by AtomicRocket
The Sound Of MYAAAAH! by wytrab8
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site.
Ript Apparel has three new designs today. Knock Down, Banana Creed, and The New Villain from mainial, AlbertoArni, and JayHai will be for sale on April 4, 2015 only!
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site.
Ript Apparel has three new designs today. PSX2, Hokusai Cthulhu, and MYAH from Melee_Ninja, Mdk7, and BiggStankDogg will be for sale on April 2, 2015 only!
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site.
