Masters of the Universe Mini-Series DC Comics Discussion

[JVS3]

Val freelance works for DC NOW.

Just finished up the colors on Swamp Thing 9 this weekend too!

Why would you want comics digitally? You can't read them in the bathroom or on the bus.

I thought that until I saw them on Eamon's iPad. They looked great. That was the first time I thought digital was doable.
I still wish we could get some concrete estimates on digital sales. People hope it will breath life into publishing, but nothing has been revealed to show that it is the future of publishing.

[Toymaker]

Just finished up the colors on Swamp Thing 9 this weekend too!



I thought that until I saw them on Eamon's iPad. They looked great. That was the first time I thought digital was doable.
I still wish we could get some concrete estimates on digital sales. People hope it will breath life into publishing, but nothing has been revealed to show that it is the future of publishing.

I'm old school, I still like the feelings of comics in my hands. Heck, I've not even got an e-reader yet!

[JonWes]

I love comics on my iPad. I had pretty much stopped reading them before they had those. I don't read a ton now, but I do follow a few titles from companies that make it easy for me. I love that I can read the stories any time I want and don't have to worry about storage and long boxes. I was never much of a collector. I just liked the stories. But I think in order to really get more people reading them everyone needs to publish day and date and they need to be $1.99 max. Having the same price as the print edition is just backwards, even though I know they don't want to make retailers mad.

[Durendal]

Good idea. A little variety is a good thing. It sounded like they might not even be planning to include Orko, so maybe we'll get a real roster shake-up?

I'm hoping we'll get to see some characters again that had an impact but only appeared once or twice before, like...LODAR!

[Mr. Shokoti]

.
I guess I am just too old school! I can't grasp why someone would want to invest in a digital comic book over the print ( I can understand both for mobility). Isn't the whole point to collect the artwork? It just doesn't seem the same keeping them as files

I've been reading comics since I could read, but I've always been a reader rather than a collector. I still prefer print. Between the headaches I get by reading things online for long periods of time(if someone's post is longer than a few sentences & they don't immediately catch my interest, I'm skimming it at best) and just how easy it is to carry a comic or magazine with you where ever you go without having to worry about breaking it if it drops or having it stolen, I don't understand digital comics, books, or magazines. Sure, it's nice to be able to look up something online on your laptop or smart phone if you aren't at home, but I could never see that as a replacement for me. I guess I'm old school too. I feel too young at 36 to be talking about the good ol' days just yet though.

I've also have yet to see a splash page work well on a tablet. It's either cut in half or smaller than the printed pages.

[Eternian Poet]

I'm hoping we'll get to see some characters again that had an impact but only appeared once or twice before, like...LODAR!

Now you're talking! That's an exciting idea!

[Darkkosis]

Wow, looks like I was living under this universe's rock for the past few days! This is absolutely amazing news. For me, MOTU always existed in the comics. Filmation wasn't exactly what I hoped for He-Man, however MYP and 200X did somehow come close to my favorite He-Man canon.

I hope this new DC series will rock. Can't wait enough for June, it's my birthday month after all.

[Krueger]

Just in case people don't check the TG Q&A thread, Scott confirmed:

- The DC comic is a brand new canon, unrelated to the MOTUC bios
- They are free to use any MOTUC characters, including people like Draego Man
- Any new characters introduced in the comic are eligible to show up in the MOTUC line
- The first issue hasn't been drawn yet

What thread are you referring to? Anyway, I'm glad that they're not using the Classics continuity.

[JimmyPSHayes]

For my part, I'm interested enough to check this out, but not enough to buy it on blind faith, given the creative team and premise, so it's probably trade waiting for me. I saw an argument a few pages back about how you "have to" support this if you want more. Which is probably true... but I have found that while doing so may help the brand/property, it doesn't help you. If you like it, or you think it looks cool, buy it. If you're interested but are unsure, wait to buy it. If you're not into it, don't buy it. Easy peasy.

I have a feeling this was directed at me, and if it wasn't, I apologize. That's not what I meant at all. Should you buy a comic(or anything)that you don't like? Absolutely not! Look, almost everyone on this board is predetermined to at LEAST be interested in this comic. Some people will, some people won't. There's all ready a bunch of people here that hate the comic-pretty amazing since it's not out for 3 months. All I'm saying is give it a chance. Flip through it, if you don't like it, don't buy it. There's PLENTY of other Masters comics that are available for people to read.

Traitor! Print is dying because of you!!!

I don't think print will disappear anytime soon because of digital. Believe it or not, there are people who still buy comics as INVESTMENTS, plus, I think it's the ability to hold a comic in your hands and turning pages that is still a thrill for some people. I too, wasn't interested in comics on tablets until I saw. Seeing the art lit from BEHIND makes it look fantastic. And some comics studios(like Fourstar)give you a TON of extras with your comics, like creator commentary and the ability to switch between finished and penciled pages.

[Divia]

I'll try it out.

I'm pretty free thinking when it comes to MOTU stuff. I'm not a hardcore freak unless it comes to Adam/Teela.

But I'll try the mini

[phantom1592]

I'm suddenly hearing "Badstreet, USA" in my head for some reason...!

For my part, I'm interested enough to check this out, but not enough to buy it on blind faith, given the creative team and premise, so it's probably trade waiting for me.

I think I'll be VERY surprised if this hits 'Trade' format.

Unless it becomes a runaway sucess, or is the prequel to an ongoing... I just don't see that many trades anymore of the smaller runs of independent products...

There's still a FEW mini-series that i'm waiting for that held a much higher 'importance' rate than this does...

Filmation DID have impact and importance, but people seem to forget that MOTU was a good idea and actual toyline before the cartoon existed. Filmation isn't the be-all and end-all of MOTU, especially to those fans who were collecting the line before the cartoon aired. Lou Schiemer didn't create the idea of He-Man keeping Skeletor from getting inside of Castle Grayskull to learn all of it's secrets.

Yeah... I'll probably always disagree with this

I got into it in pre-filmation... That freaking awesome Castle was MY selling point... and I learned to read with those pre-filmation comics...

But REGARDLESS of that... I still believe that the line would have crashed and burned without filmation feeding the fire.

Honestly, the 'he-man story' isn't ALL that 'AMAZING'... Pre-filmation can PRETTY much be summed up with 'Bad guy wants mcguffin. Good guy has to stop him. Bad guy also wants good guy's girl. She needs rescuing.'
I LOVE them... but it's the same story as a hundred OTHER toylines out there that didn't go anywhere.

There was an interview around here with the original writer that drained a LOT of my respect for the era... something about knowing the CREATOR didn't care about it hurt me a lot

I'm not arguing with you, you bring up a great point! When you use words like "parrell universe of Elseworlds" a lot of people assume it will be "He-Man as a pirate" or "Masters of the Universe in the old west", which simply isn't the case. I'm sure the comic will be a new story with elements of the classic Masters of the Universe "property". Man, it was really hard not to use the word continuity.
:

I think before we can have an 'elseworld' we have to have a... world.

We have three distinctly different continuities... I think the 'reality rewrite' is to streamline them and erase any particular expectation.

[JimmyPSHayes]

I think before we can have an 'elseworld' we have to have a... world.

We have three distinctly different continuities... I think the 'reality rewrite' is to streamline them and erase any particular expectation.

That was my point exactly. There's no "OFFICIAL' continuity to stray away from, so why are people calling it an Elseworlds or Parallel Universe?

[Mr. Shokoti]

That was my point exactly. There's no "OFFICIAL' continuity to stray away from, so why are people calling it an Elseworlds or Parallel Universe?

It's times like this I wish I was pro-death penalty.

[krosfyah]

I've also have yet to see a splash page work well on a tablet. It's either cut in half or smaller than the printed pages.

I like digital comics and how the reader for comixology works, but THIS is the BEST argument against digital comics i've seen. Splash pages do lose their impact, esp the two page spread ones.

[JimmyPSHayes]

It's times like this I wish I was pro-death penalty.

Don't feel bad, O'Donnell.

[Hordak Alpha]

That was my point exactly. There's no "OFFICIAL' continuity to stray away from, so why are people calling it an Elseworlds or Parallel Universe?

Some fans seem to tend to have to comfort themselves by calling every MOTU story that happens taking place in a parallel universe or being an 'imaginary story' because some fans seem to think the only official MOTU continuity was the watered down, cheesy Filmation cartoon of long ago.


However, it does make sense to group MOTU stories into their own character universes because it does allow writers a little freedom where they don't HAVE to stick with everything that is officially established by other writers. Certain key elements need to remain the same, but using the perspective of the multiverse theory when it comes to fiction, it can be more accepted by the multi faceted fanbase that MOTU has.



But, if you want to get technical, the canon universe that could be considered the official, original 'MOTU PRIME' would more than generally be the universe created in the original mini-comics since they were the first published stories of MOTU from Mattel. So, yes, that would mean the source He-Man was a barbarian jungle warrior of Eternia recruited by a green sorceress/goddess to wear a harness that augmented his strength to do battle against a power hungry undead tyrant from the planet of Infinitia over a castle and two swords that contained the 'ultimate' powers of the universe.

[DO4M]

Some fans seem to tend to have to comfort themselves by calling every MOTU story that happens taking place in a parallel universe or being an 'imaginary story' because some fans seem to think the only official MOTU continuity was the watered down, cheesy Filmation cartoon of long ago.

Well it's the Better known Canon... MYP is a Reinvention of the Canon so, it's a parallel universe... Kinda like the Ultimate Universe works for Marvel. MOTUC canon is yet another reboot...

But, if you want to get technical, the canon universe that could be considered the official, original 'MOTU PRIME' would more than generally be the universe created in the original mini-comics since they were the first published stories of MOTU from Mattel. So, yes, that would mean the source He-Man was a barbarian jungle warrior of Eternia recruited by a green sorceress/goddess to wear a harness that augmented his strength to do battle against a power hungry undead tyrant from the planet of Infinitia over a castle and two swords that contained the 'ultimate' powers of the universe.

But didn't the Mini Comics become more in line with Filmation and ditched the Previous Universe, wouldn't that validate Filmation more than the 4 mini comics?

[DJ_Convoy]

I have a feeling this was directed at me, and if it wasn't, I apologize. That's not what I meant at all. Should you buy a comic(or anything)that you don't like? Absolutely not! Look, almost everyone on this board is predetermined to at LEAST be interested in this comic. Some people will, some people won't. There's all ready a bunch of people here that hate the comic-pretty amazing since it's not out for 3 months. All I'm saying is give it a chance. Flip through it, if you don't like it, don't buy it. There's PLENTY of other Masters comics that are available for people to read.

No PS, it wasn't you. Someone up thread pretty literally said "You have to buy this if you like it or not," which is silly.

[He-Metayer]

According to DC's July solicitations, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #1 comes out on July 4th and will have a variant cover.

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/dc-comics-July-2012-solicitations.html

[vertigoink]

According to DC's July solicitations, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #1 comes out on July 4th and will have a variant cover.

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/dc-comics-July-2012-solicitations.html

Thank god the variant cover is by someone decent! He actually made the somewhat failed Splatterhouse reboot enjoyable with his artistic direction.

[JonWes]

Looking forward to seeing what the Wilkins variant cover looks like. Could be very cool.

[scott metzger]

Well, of course MTV thinks it's cheesy. I mean, come on, it isn't cool like Big time Rush or Snooky. Get with it people!

Hard to judge a book without seeing it, but Robinson does tend to have a bit more respect for what has come before than a lot of today's comic book writers, and his storytelling is usaully pretty solid. Here's hoping it goes over well (be funny if it out-performs all the big DCNU stuff out right now, wouldn't it? This cheesy concept outselling all the cool stuff from cool people like Jim Lee; there would be a story...)

[krosfyah]

skeletor_by_dave_wilkins-d4rtrm2.jpg

Skeletor by Dave Wilkins...

can't wait to see his cover!!

there is NOTHING cheesy about an image like this IMO, but to be fair, Skeletor isn't 16 and pregnant.

[Mr. Shokoti]

Skeletor by Dave Wilkins...

So Skeletor has turned into Vlad The Impaler and found himself a Cosmic Cube?

[krosfyah]

So Skeletor has turned into Vlad The Impaler and found himself a Cosmic Cube?

I thought it was probably the diamond ray of disappearance.