The 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