By Jason Webb
By the power of Grayskull!!
When I was a kid, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was the single biggest thing in my life. I always had a sword strapped to my back, and always watched the cartoons. So of course when issue 1 of a new DC comics series of He-Man came through the post, I couldn’t contain my inner child.
We begin the issue in a dream, and talk of great power, and great battle between good and evil. Then we come back to the forest of Eternia, where Adam is going about his daily activities as a woodsman. We learn that when he isn’t chopping down trees and such he is a carer for his farther. When he returns to his duties, he is distracted by a bird, who although he hasn’t seen this bird before he knew its name as if it told him himself. After more dreams, Adam has an epiphany and realises he should go away and search for powers of which he dreams.
Witnees the throne room filled with all the evil you could imagine, including the dreaded Skeletor.
Only things aren’t what they seem, and we are quickly introduced to the villain of the issue Beastman. Who knows all about Adam and his journey, and has been sent to stop him. This brings out things in Adam that he doesn’t realise are there. After the battle, Adam continues on his journey. This then brings us to a throne room filled with all the evil you could imagine, including the dreaded Skeletor.
This book was always going to have to do a lot to impress fans like myself. The writing by James Robinson may not be to everyone’s liking. However I feel like this was a great method to use as he gives you just enough to keep you wanting more, but not too much to throw out the whole story very quickly. Although it may seem slow to take off, it just makes me more intrigued as to where the story will go in the following issues.
This is a great introduction back into Eternia and the magical world of my childhood hero.
Art by Philip Tan is good, on the few pages we actually get to see He-Man and the other heroes and villains of the story have a huge magical feeling to them like they are going to jump off the page. The pages in between have a completely different feel to them, like its two different books but all wrapped up in an awesome first issue. Although it may not be to everyone’s taste, this is a great introduction back into Eternia and the magical world of my childhood hero.
You can follow Jason Webb on his blog or on Twitter at @Jaybwebb
Posted on July 9th, 2012
Category: REVIEWS, WEBB OF SHADOWS
Tags: Comic Review, comics, DC Comics, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, James Robinson, Jason Webb, Philip Tan, Skeletor, Webb of Shadows