Although introduced fairly early into the stories of He-Man there has never been a very good way to overlap the stories of his sister with his own.  He-Man was at first a toy and then later a television series and comic, which was wildly popular among boys in the early 1980s.

Seeing the success of the franchise in one demographic, the creators tried their hand at a related franchise that would appeal to girls and they came up with She-Ra.  Although the animated show had some success, with two seasons compared to He-Man’s three, it never gained the same traction in terms of a fan base.  The characters were a weird mix of dolls and action figures, with the main character Adora/She-Ra focused equally on love as on fighting her mortal enemy, Hordak.   I remember as a young boy eager to fill out my own collection of action figures, that I took one look at a discounted Bow and scoffing and walking away, such a blatant romantic interest that he has a heart on his chest.  Equally although there must have been some, I never met a girl that collected She-Ra figures.   She-Ra has always been a character in need of a home and never really able to find one.

He-Man and the related characters now exist in popular culture primarily as comic book characters and since the relaunch of DC Comics into the new 52, has formed one of the sole ongoing and reliable series not tied to the main universe.  As a comic franchise it has had its ups-and-downs, though one constant has been an attempt to integrate She-Ra into the storylines.  The conclusion of the Blood of Grayskull story line introduces the character into He-Man universe as well as has probably ever been done.   Gone are the somewhat hoaky aspects of the character, replaced only by a strong story, which spanned 6 issues of the series and 1000 years of comic book time.

This final issue of the story arc is still one that is not going to be extremely moving for a lot of readers, as it borrows heavily from aspects of science fiction, fantasy and comic clichés to give a mostly action-focused story.  Nonetheless it is still interesting to read, well-produced and flows well with the bits of story and dialogue moving the action along well.  Fans of the franchise might be particularly interested in this issue, as after nearly thirty years it gives Adora a proper home and a new meaning.

Story: Dan Abnett Art: Pop Mhan
Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5 Recommendation: Read