Masters of the Universe: Origin of He-Man - DC Comics - SPOILERS

[Mern-Ra]

While this wasn't a terribly ground-breaking comic, I enjoyed it. I've wanted a He-Man origin since I was 5 and never got one from Filmation (mini-comic jungle boy just kinda bores me and seems unoriginal), so I always enjoy it when one is put out there, just to see what other takes people go with.

I'm fine with The Sword Of Power being forged, mainly because the tapestry was one of the best pieces of art in the comic and I'd love to have a print of that! The Sorceress pages were the absolute highlight, art and story-wise, but yeah, he does not draw muscle men well....they both just looked kind of sinewy, for the most part.

[chuc98]

That's in TG's canon. In DC Comics' canon, it's different....

That seems to be the canon they're following though. Skeletor AND the Power Sword fell down into the canyon. We know, in the Classics canon Skeletor eventually gets the Power Sword because King He-Man is coming with a mangled electronic Power Sword.

Penny…IF they are following the Classics canon, wouldn't He-Ro be a contemporary (at least initially) of King Grayskull's?

As for how the castle was built…I always liked the story that it was built around a fallen giant. This explains the skull on the front and the spine on the roof/back and it takes nothing away from the mystery of it's contents.

[MrRoboto]

I thought the OoHM story was bland to say the least. I'll be honest, i don't know about the MOTU comics thus far. I appreciate that it's not the easiest job to come up with a story that keeps flowing but the guys writing these comics haven't left me wanting more. The only comic that i actually didn't mind was the #8 She-Ra issue. I don't want to give up on them yet reading them i feel i'm just 'going thru the motions' as a MOTU fan.

But with the not-so-good, there's aways a flip-side. I thought the art was good, i've always got respect for those that can draw/colour as i think it's a great talent. I think that the art has been the most consistent thing with the comics so far. For me, i'd just like to see the stories move up a couple notches now.

[DC_WARLORD]

I liked that Castle Grayskull was "built by unknown hands" in the mini-comics. I think we shouldn't know who built the Power Swords either. Castle Grayskull is the fortress of mystery and power, but where has the mystery gone these past few years?

Yeah, I always loved the idea of CASTLE GRAYSKULL being around for centuries, but not really knowing how or why it was built. That's just plain cool. I think with something like MOTU, it takes away from the entire concept if every single thing has an explaination.


Imagine how cool it would be if the castle was built by an alien race not native to Eternia!!

[Lookie]

But Adam is alive, not dead "like like the filth your wretched Earth mother birthed!". Adora is presumed dead since Skeletor sent her off to Hordak.

I took it similar to someone saying, "Die like the piece of trash you are." Skeletor is saying that because Adam is part alien, he doesn't deserve to live. I think people are wanting POP hooked in more than it actually is. If it makes you feel better, than go ahead and think that way. And yes, I know Despara is in the new issue #1 coming out soon.

[Bonehead]

We know, in the Classics canon Skeletor eventually gets the Power Sword because King He-Man is coming with a mangled electronic Power Sword.

We do???

Reference please.

I though KHM has the electronic Power Sword cause he gave the original Power Sword to his son.

[JafariStew]

It seemed like Skeletor crushed the Power Sword with his bare hands, then it was fine a few moments later when Adam used it... was it self healing or did I miss something.

[wolfsfang]

This could have been a good comic if it wasn't for the god awful terrible atrocious art.

[KryptonianMike]

It seemed like Skeletor crushed the Power Sword with his bare hands, then it was fine a few moments later when Adam used it... was it self healing or did I miss something.

I took it as he crushed a replica that was made. Which might later help explain why Adam and He-Man have the same looking sword.

[JonWes]

I didn't think the art was terrible, it just seemed rush. The story seemed to be so short as to be almost non-existent. Just a series of quick little events without much context or myth built up around it.

I thought Skeletor's origin was much better.

[He-Dad]

Liked the art but where was the story? I agree..with JonWes....it seemed like quick little events and no depth what so ever. Didn't really care for this one, which is a shame. And what was the deal with Randor and Marlena?! Would have been nice to have some resolution.

[BCI Guy]

It seemed like Skeletor crushed the Power Sword with his bare hands, then it was fine a few moments later when Adam used it... was it self healing or did I miss something.

That was the display sword on the wall - the one that Skeletor referred to as "an antique that had been there since he was a child". The actual Power Sword was hidden inside the wall, behind the tapestry.

[RyDell]

I actually liked this one better than the Skeletor one. I thought I wouldn't care for it, but I enjoyed it.

[heavy-eternium]

I love the simplicity of this origin, always seemed unattractive the origin of 200x and MOTUC origin very intricate, techno sword, the two halves of the sword He,the orbe .
Loved all lines of sorceress, she is very direct, I especially like when she says "you have no choice".

[chuc98]

We do???

Reference please.

I though KHM has the electronic Power Sword cause he gave the original Power Sword to his son.

I THINK it was in an interview with Toy Guru that he said He-Man has the electronic sword again when king because Skeletor has the real Power Sword.

[MegaGearMax]

I think people are wanting POP hooked in more than it actually is.

And I know of some fans who die a little inside whenever POP gets some sort of recognition, so we are even.

And no, I'm not a hardcore POP fan.

[Eternian-King Paul]

They just need a 'King GreySkull and the Zombie Appocolipse' comic.

..for those that are into that.

[Darkspecter]

They just need a 'King GreySkull and the Zombie Appocolipse' comic.

..for those that are into that.

They had "Captain Randor and the Leech Zombie Apocalypse" digital comic, if that counts.

[Vikor]

Man that was boring.

[SCB]

I THINK it was in an interview with Toy Guru that he said He-Man has the electronic sword again when king because Skeletor has the real Power Sword.

No he said someone else is using it, refering to Dare. He's said this a couple of times when talking about Dare.

[TJRules]

I didn't think the art was terrible, it just seemed rush. The story seemed to be so short as to be almost non-existent. Just a series of quick little events without much context or myth built up around it.

I thought Skeletor's origin was much better.

I agree. At first, it took me a second to follow the story because it jumps around so much (like going to be with the Sorceress even though she's not there) but eventually the story came around. The art was okay imo, but not great. I liked some of the drawings of Sorceress. Especially the full page of her, but that's about it. He-Man with the sword when he first gets it is not that great.

I'll keep collecting these, but the MVComics in 200x were what MOTU was supposed to be when redone in a modern way. They captured the essence of Masters and still have violence and gore like these new comics have. The new comics just don't have that Masters feel, imo. Can't put my finger on it, but it's there, imo.

[Iris Wildthyme]

About the Power Sword being forged, I liked how the UK comics did it. The Sword of Power and Protection were forged by the Elders from a magic, jewelled meteor that fell from the heavens. A man who WANTED to be an Eldor made a THIRD (evil) Sword out of it too, which was split in half.

This!

I loved that Twins of Power special as a child, and thus I always think of there as having been 3 swords and since I knew that in the 80s and YEARS before I ever heard of He-Ro or King Grayskull I will always think of that origin as being "canon".

In my big fan-fic rewrite of MOTU which I recently posted up on the Fanfic section as "The Broken Circle", I retconned it a wee bit into the renegade elder who forged the Sword of Evil eventually becoming Horde Prime.

[Vahn]

OK, this story had a couple of bits I liked. The Sorceress conversation was great, and there were a few other lines here and there that I liked.

But now I must talk about the art. Oh the art. The overall dreamy feel to everything was OK, though I wish it had sharpened up in more places. It was disconcerting and hard to follow with almost every panel just being a floating close up. Some of the facial expressions were very well drawn, but the anatomy was... ****ing terrible! I mean it wasn't bad, it was ****ing TERRIBLE!!! The proportions were skewed and inconsistent, but worst of all, the muscle structure was completely ****ing wrong in many of the shots. It looks like he started to draw the characters in one position, changed his mind halfway through, and didn't bother to correct the muscle structure. There's one panel where He-Man's deltoid (which is drawn as if the arm is rotated forward) cuts straight into the middle of his ****ing bicep (which is drawn rotated back)!!!

Please DC, I can tolerate a lot, but with He-Man, I draw the line at bad anatomy. Proper anatomical structure is quite possibly the single most important element in drawing MOTU characters, and if an artist doesn't have a good grasp of it, he should just stay far away from this property.

[Cosmitron]

OK, this story had a couple of bits I liked. The Sorceress conversation was great, and there were a few other lines here and there that I liked.

But now I must talk about the art. Oh the art. The overall dreamy feel to everything was OK, though I wish it had sharpened up in more places. It was disconcerting and hard to follow with almost every panel just being a floating close up. Some of the facial expressions were very well drawn, but the anatomy was... ****ing terrible! I mean it wasn't bad, it was ****ing TERRIBLE!!! The proportions were skewed and inconsistent, but worst of all, the muscle structure was completely ****ing wrong in many of the shots. It looks like he started to draw the characters in one position, changed his mind halfway through, and didn't bother to correct the muscle structure. There's one panel where He-Man's deltoid (which is drawn as if the arm is rotated forward) cuts straight into the middle of his ****ing bicep (which is drawn rotated back)!!!

Please DC, I can tolerate a lot, but with He-Man, I draw the line at bad anatomy. Proper anatomical structure is quite possibly the single most important element in drawing MOTU characters, and if an artist doesn't have a good grasp of it, he should just stay far away from this property.

Agree. That's just sad. Except for a few ones like the artists on Skelly and She-Ra story that were great imho, it feels like most of the artists working on He-Man rush the job and/or don't care much about it, like it's just a job. I need to add that the book cover was great and promising (the first blue-ish version was even more intriguing because I thought Faker might be involved ) and that adds to my disappointment. I don't even mind Ben Oliver's photo tracing technique, but the thing with this technique is that the art is too different when he doesn't have the photo reference like Sorceress face in page 16, or last page, He Man's head is not in the same perspective as the rest of the pic and that makes him look fat!
But I need to say there are good story telling ideas in his storyboard. And there are backgrounds, but it lacks some large views that would have made it look richer imho.
After re-reading it I think what bothers me most is the script. The power sword is hidden behind a poster... Come on...

[Brian Ozone]

All around it was crap. It was terrible. The art sucked. The story didn't go any where. The sword was destroyed and then fine. Terrible comic waste of money.