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Review: He-Man Eternity War #6

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He-Man - The Eternity War (2014-) 006 - covFor 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

 

We Talk He-Man The Eternity War with Dan Abnett

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Dan Abnett’s most prolific works comes from the the series 2000AD in his native UK, but he has made his mark on American comics after working on the likes of Heroes for Hire, Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy.  He was recently given the helm for the Eternity War series for He-Man.  We got a chance to talk with about the new series.
eternity001Graphic 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?
Dan Abnett: I was basically briefed by Mattel and DC to write the series ‘seriously’ and play up the epic sword and sorcery angle. I think they came to me because of my experience working on major fantasy properties like Warhammer. The idea was to make it heroic and dramatic, but without losing the sense of fun and escape. That meant taking even the ‘silliest’ and most unlikely characters and saying ‘no, this isn’t a joke. It’s a part of this world and we treat it with respect’… but still have fun when appropriate.
GP:  Were you a fan of the characters as a child?
DA: it was a little late for me, actually, though I was aware of it, of course. Early in my career as a writer and editor, I worked on many licences (at Marvel UK etc), and over that time wrote for Transformers, Thundercats, Galaxy Rangers, GI Joe… just about every classic property of the era. Except He-Man, so it was very nice to ‘complete the set’ and get a chance to write Masters of the Universe too. And it’s nice to do it in such a high profile way, with a great, glossy monthly DC book, with fantastic art (Pop Mhan is amazing), wonderful color and the support of Mattel and DC. And, of course, being allowed to do massive things, like bringing back She-Ra, is a real treat…
GP:  All-out war has never really taken place for He-Man, rather he is usually depicted foiling some plan from one of his enemies and then moving on.  Has it been hard to change the focus?
DA: I think the scope is absolutely there, given the size of the potential cast and the scale of things. It suits an epic handling. If you tipped out your toybox, you’d have so many warriors ready to assemble into armies and factions…
eternity002GP:  In terms of writing a battle focused story, how do you balance the story so that the battles do not overwhelm the plot?
DA: I’m not sure that there’s a specific technique. I just try to maintain an over all sense of the scale and confusion… lost of things going on, then zoom in onto specific characters to personalize the mayhem.
GP:  Eternity War has featured new takes on some classic characters such as Teela, Skeletor and She-Ra.  Are you worried at all that fans might not accept them?
DA: I hope they do, and they seem to have. Mattel has been brilliantly ‘hands on’ with this, guiding me every step of the way, and suggesting characters to use… and how to use them in cool ways that fit into their lore. They’ve been really great, and I’ve been reassured that I’m not damaging things by doing anything too radical. If the Masters’ ‘masters’ are happy with it, I’m pretty sure the fans will like it too…
GP:  The series has been a balance of of sci-fi and fantasy, true to the characters roots.  How do you approach this as a writer to balance these two genres which are similar but also somewhat different?
DA: I think the mix is really entertaining. The blend of blades and tech reminds me (in a really good way) of classic “Planet Stories” like Robert E Howard’s Almuric and Edgar Rice Burroughs’s “Mars” and “Venus” sagas, so it’s a very honorable tradition. This is a world of warriors and magic, but it’s also a world of ancient and power civilisations, with sophisticated technology and crafts, so the blend is very comfortable.
eternity005GP:  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?
DA: I’d say not, actually, as the difference or ‘split’ between those two sides is becoming increasingly important as the Eternity War unfolds.
GP:  Can you give us an idea of what is ahead for He-Man?
DA: Things are really going to get epic. This is the biggest He-Man story ever,  a saga on a “Lord of the Rings’ type scale, with the fate of worlds in the balance. If you’ve enjoyed it so far, you’re going to love how massive it becomes as all the opposing parties begin to clash.

Review: He-Man Eternity War #5

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hemaneternitywar005The 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

Strange Comic Trends: Superheroines Get Impaled, Walk It Off

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Warning, Spoilers Below for Realm War #7 and He-Man Eternity War #4

realmwarThis is not a trend over one specific week exactly, but instead covers two months, though the end result of both comics occurred in this week (if the digital release of Realm War is considered to be this week.)  It should be noted as well that there are spoilers here, particularly for He-Man. The interesting trend this time is a duo of unrelated female heroes that are locked in battle and are run through with a blade. Not run through as in a significant cut somewhere on their body, more like a stabbing movement with a blade that pierces both sides of the body, through the visceral mass. Presumably such a kill shot would hit many major organs as well and would likely result in a quick and painful death.  This occurred to She-Ra in He-Man Eternity War #4 this week and in Realm War #7 in February to Britney although the resolution of her injury was shown this week.  What is more interesting is that neither of these acts resulted in the death of the character, and instead was presumably shown more for the shock value.

sheraIt would be hard to remove either one of these characters from their active continuities. Although Grimm Fairy Tales has a fair assortment of female characters, Britney Waters is evidently one of the most popular. To remove She-Ra from He-Man would be even more notable as she is essentially one of only two main female characters in the entire series. In the case of Britney it was obviously even more for shock value as it was her werewolf metabolism which saved her, but although the blow to She-Ra looked just as bad, she was equally able to get away under her own power with the assistance of an old foe and presumably some magic, as her injury did indeed look to be quite fatal.  What is even more interesting is that it happened to two female characters. While there is a move towards the modernization of female in media as able protagonists, their place as damsels in distress is still prevalent enough in culture. That this was done, at least in the case of She-Ra, is an easy way to prove the true evil of the villain. Regardless of the true motivation, the characters probably deserve better than to be treated as recipients of shock value attacks, especially after the degree of characterizations that has been built into them through some solid writing.

Review: He-Man Eternity War #4

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eternityThe exploits of He-Man and his allies have been given somewhat of a Renaissance since the relaunching of the character by DC Comics.  Long considered a character associated with children’s toys, the new series melds the previous stories of the character with a new mix of science fiction and fantasy.  Part of the problem with the previous incarnations of the character is that he was tied to the children’s cartoon from the 1980s, and as such faced a similar problem that the comics of the golden age faced.  Each episode was serialized and thus was self contained and thus it made it more difficult to build back stories for the character that would carry over from one episode to another.

If there was ever an attempt at world building by He-Man then this series is it.  It throws off the remnants of its supposedly childish past and gives the characters new meaning by expanding their back stories.  As was seen in issue #3, She-Ra led an assault against enemy forces only to be confronted by a more powerful Hordak.  The use of Hordak here is well done.  He is already established as an enemy of He-Man, She-Ra and also Skeletor, but the use of different villains here helps to solidify his true evil.  Equally as much of this issue focuses on She-Ra it is an effective way to highlight the character that has for too long been more of a punchline in He-Man as opposed to a serious player.

Eternity War is evidently the story that will unify all disparate parts of the He-Man stories and combine them together into an adult setting.  There will be those that still will be hung up on the association with toys, but as is being proven elsewhere as well, it does not matter really what the inspiration is as long as solid characters drive solid stories, and this series succeeds at both.  The end result of this combination is that this is a standout series, one which is one of the stronger entries in sci-fi fantasy in today’s market, and more would recognize this if they let go of their preconceptions.

Story: Rob David and Dan Abnett Art: Pop Mhan
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy

Review: He-Man Eternity War #2

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ew02covAt their base, there is nothing inherently special about the characters of He-Man when compared to others in the science-fiction/fantasy genre.  There are larger than life heroes, dastardly villains, strange alien species and exotic worlds.  The only real difference that exists between the Masters of the Universe and those heroes in other settings (for instance Star Wars) are the specifics in relation to the design of the characters, either in their appearance or their backgrounds.  This means that fans of those particular franchises are going to be happy with the output, but that the stories are unlikely to gain a wider appeal.  What has been impressive with the recent outings of He-Man at DC is that it does supercede these limitations.  In a medium where other companies are trying to revive (Dynamite’s Flash Gordon and John Carter) or reboot (Marvel’s Star Wars) similar outings in the genre, He-Man has actually stood apart for its storytelling, making the stories more approachable by all fans of the medium and the genre.

That is why this issue is such a let down.  It is not that it is a bad issue, because it is not, but the issue focuses mostly on battle scenes and doesn’t incorporate a lot of anything else.  The action focuses on He-Man and his army’s attack on the Horde, and while it is eye-catching, it is only that.  More so the action can be seen to be almost a template of other battle scenes (it comes off a bit like Lord of the Rings).  Where the standout writing on the series has ruled up until this point it seems as though they took a break for a slugfest.  Even gone are the well developed female characters of Teela and She-Ra that have been respectable additions to the stories.

What saving grace is left is that this story is far from over.  This is only the second issue of the Eternity War, and it thus leaves open the question of what other surprises are in store when the series front loads it epic battle sequence.    There is still a lot of story left to tell, and if the creative team feels the needs for a bit violent fluff at this stage, then they deserve the benefit of the doubt.  Certainly they have been able to entertain thus far with their fresh takes on the characters, and hopefully they will get back to it in the coming issues.

Story: Rob David and Dan Abnett Art: Pop Mhan
Story: 8.2 Art: 8.2 Overall: 8.2 Recommendation: Read

 

We Talk He-Man with Mark Roberts

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Mark Roberts is fairly new in the comic book industry but has already worked as a colorist on numerous titles at both Dynamite and Zenescope.  He has recently taken over coloring duties on He-Man with DC Comics, just as the series is launching into Eternity War.  We got  chance to talk with him about 80s cartoons, green skin and alien blood.

Graphic Policy: Were you a fan of the Masters of the Universe when you were younger?

ew003Mark Roberts: Absolutely!  I was a child of the 80’s, that Golden Age of toys and Saturday morning cartoons, and even with so much to choose from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was my favorite.  I had a pretty sizable collection of action figures, the mini-comics, I can even remember having some of the books that came with a record that had voice-over and sound effects on it.  Sadly, all that stuff got tossed in the garbage at some point, but I’ve been slowly rebuilding a collection.

GP: Do you have a favorite character?  And do you have a favorite to color?

MR: As a kid I was all about He-Man.  Now, I still dig He-Man, but I think She-Ra is just as cool.  If I had to pick a favorite I think I’d have to say Sea Hawk.  I just think he’s an interesting character who has a ton of potential for entertaining stories.   I’d love to see him make an appearance in the DC title with an upgraded look.  As for a favorite to color…  it’s gotta be the transformation scenes.  Whether it’s He-Man or She-Ra, I just love trying to capture that same effect and the excitement it made me feel watching it as a kid.

ew004GP: The characters in this series were originally designed as toys and their color schemes are different than what you might necessarily expect in comics.  Is it challenging to incorporate different coloring techniques for the same characters across different mediums?

MR: No, I don’t think so.  The comic is quite different in tone from the cartoons and the toys and while Eternia and the characters who inhabit it can be quite colorful, it’s not really a challenge to make it work in a more serious context.  I actually quite enjoy it.

GP: The colors in the first issue of Eternity War really popped off the page.  How did you achieve this look?

MR: Thanks!  Well, for this new arc of He-Man I really wanted to make things more alive and vivid.  The previous arc, Blood of Grayskull, was a much more somber tale.  We didn’t get to see a lot of characters, we spent a lot of time in barren terrain or dark forests and caves.  Now we have this huge cast of colorful characters fighting massive, epic battles and I’m just trying to do it justice.  Pop is going all out on his pages, the detail he’s putting in is mind blowing, and I want to make sure nothing gets lost in the colors.

ew001GP: Some of the coloring is this issue also achieved a lot by omission, notably in the first pages with Hordak and the mostly pale blue background mixed with the red from the blood.  How do you choose when not to add a lot of color, thus setting a different picture?

MR: It’s all about serving the story, creating mood or putting emphasis on a certain character or action.  That’s really a big part of your job as a colorist, making those decisions.  Sometimes the script might contain some color notes or the artist might request something, but for the most part it’s up to you to interpret the script and the line art and make color choices that complement everything and bring it all together.

GP: Teela is shown here with green skin, which is a fairly common skin color to show something being different or alien.  Why do you think that this is so common in pop culture to show aliens in this color?

MR: Oh, jeez, I don’t know…  The color green can have different meanings.  It can represent nature, life and growth but it can also be associated with things like envy or sickness so I guess that makes it fairly versatile.  In this particular case, though, I think the green serves as the opposite to the red of the Horde.  Luke’s green lightsaber versus Vader’s red, if you will.

ew005GP: About half way through this issue there is a beautiful splash page depicting some of the background of the characters.  Does incorporating so many elements into one large panel pose different problems for adding the color?

MR: No, not really.  Those pages were fun to do and not really that complicated.  With all the images coming from a magical conjuring it was fairly simple to unify them through color and then separating the flashbacks from the here and now with color holds on the lines.

GP: What is your favorite part about working on He-Man?

MR:  There’s nothing about it I don’t like.  Just working on He-Man and getting to relive my childhood would be enough, but getting to work with Dan and Pop is awesome.  I’m a big fan of both of these guys.  I get excited every time I get a new script in and can’t wait to see what Pop does with it.  Everyone at DC and Mattel have been amazing to work with and I gotta say, the fan support has been fantastic.  This whole experience has been the highlight of my career so far and I look forward to each new issue!

 

Review: He-Man The Eternity War #1

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He-Man - The Eternity War 001 covThe stories of He-Man at DC Comics have been surprisingly some of the best in the genre of sci-fi/fantasy in the past few years.  Although it is expected that gems in this genre come from the independents, it is probably not expected that novel and inventive stories come out of either one of the main two publishers or from a franchise like He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.  While the stories have been somewhat innovative, with the introduction of the story in Eternity War, the story takes an unexpected and fascinating turn into something completely different.  Instead of the universe as we know it, the story is thrown a few years into the future, with a story line that is somewhat different from the universe that we know.

Where this story excels in the telling of this story is in the reimagining of certain characters.  They are not so far off of what we know, but still somewhat different.  So while for instance Teela is here, she is also quite different from the Teela that we are accustomed to.  The same goes for a number of characters, both heroes and villains alike, and it is in this familiarity where the story finds its gravity.

In terms of He-Man, this is not something that has really been seen before, almost being like a post-apocalyptic version of the He-Man universe.  The mechanics behind the story are novel and the characters are used almost to their full potential.  Those that consider He-Man to be not refined enough for their tastes will instead find a fusion of fantasy and sci-fi here that is as innovative as anything that exists on the market.  This is just the first issue of a series focusing on this alternate reality for the characters, but all signs point to something fun and worthwhile in the end.

Story: Rob David and Dan Abnett Art: Pop Mhan
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.8 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

Toy Stories – April 30th 2014

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Prepare for Titanfall indeed. Leading up to the figures debut at Thailand Toy Expo, threezero brings a us a sneak-peek of their latest offering: Titanfall: Atlas

titan02

……..MECH!

titan01

Smokey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is not a statue or small scale figure, this beast is nearly 21″ tall and articulated. The 6″ scale pilot will also be on display, but in a unpainted form. No word yet on a price point, but I’m thinking EXPENSIVE.

Mattel Toy Collector also dropped the word on some of their SDCC exclusives. First up is a Masters of the Universe Filmation coloured Hordak from She-Ra, a figure long requested by fans. The figure includes interchangeable arms, snap-on claw, staff and Imp sidekick. Pre-order or buy at the show and you’ll also get a bagged bonus item, the “Imp as a Treasure Chest” figure.

hordakimpchest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SDCC will also be the place to finally pick up a Doomsday in containment suit from the now dead DCU Classics series. Coming in at over 9″ tall, this figure is scaled far better than the “Unleased Doomsday” from earlier in DCU Classics series. Doomsday comes packed in a special window box that will pay homage to Superman: The Man of Steel #18.

doom

Doom doom doom doom doom, doom doom do DOOM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both figures will available for pre-order June 24, 2014 at MattyCollector.com for pick up at SDCC. For those of us unable to attend the show, the figures will be available for purchase at MattyCollector.com on August 5, 2014.

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