Icons of Evil: Beast-Man [Official Talk Back] *Spoilers*

[Lioncourt]

Icons of Evil: Beast-Man #1 is released 18/June. This thread will be opened on that day to allow fans the opportunity to share responses and reactions to the comic.

The young sorcerer, Keldor, ventures into the dreaded Berserker Islands of Eternia in search of the savage beasts that inhabit it. His plan is to add them to his growing army to aid in his quest to rule the world. His search puts him on a one-way collision course with the legendary Beast Man, the most savage inhabitant of the islands.
By Robert Kirkman (story), Tony Moore (art), Val Staples & Mark Sweeney (colors)

[JimmyPSHayes]

It's awesome! But when are we gonna learn how he gained control of all the animals?

[zodak74]

Just got done reading this and it's so freaking cool! I want an IOE for EVERY warrior, and heck let's get an IOG (Icons of Good!) series going as well
I liked the little nod to old-school Battle Cat as Keldor and Beast Man are being brought to their cell. The artwork and colors are amazing- although I love Emiliano's stuff, this was a very nice change of pace. Keldor looks so damn cool. I liked the part where it seemed he was going to go hook up with CatWoman for a little something-something The story was nicely done- simple yet effective. Just shows how Keldor uses his cunning to get what he wants in the end. Sort of getting Beast Man in major trouble with the residents of Berserk(er?) Islands so that he can't return home. Not what I expected- I thought he was just going to use a spell on him to control ol' Beastie. I also loved the front cover (and the inside too... nicely done with the ol' before and after pic).
I can't wait for Mer-Man's issue next month!

[RedBaron]

I'm excited! Haven't picked it up yet but it sounds great

[tenno]

I've loved every issue of MOTU--until this...
First, I loved seeing Beastman kick Keldor's butt at the start.
For the rest, huge pictures with VERY little story.
Villains team together and join forces out of necessity? Cliche. Any of my high school students could have come up with that. Beastman was not Beastman. He was ferocious like I imagine him, but his personality wasn't the same, and don't give me a bunch of nonsense like "we don't know what happens between then and now," because this comic for its size and price should have told everything.
Keldor's enhanced power was an unnecessary plot device. Read: waste of time. Old man at the beginning: waste of time. Keldor looking for a soldier: hackneyed plot device.
I'm so dissapointed. I've read it twice.
I hope that the other Icons tell complete stories with original introductions. I'm already worried about Merman, King of the Merpeople, which has been done a dozen times in other comics and Disney.
By the way, it looked fine.

[zodak74]

I think what appealed to me was it's old-school mini-comic-ness. It would be nice to have all the details filled in, but it's about as in-depth as I expected it to be.

[evil-lyn4ever]

I just got done reading it,and I think it was pretty good. Wish there was more in it,but it gets the point across!

[Wakko]

Well, perhaps the regular series got my expectations too high for the Icons of Evil series. After cheerleading the regular series from day one, I must say this Beastman IOE issue is a bit of a letdown.

On the plus side: the artwork is very nice, there's tons of great action, and don't forget to look for a couple of cookies, esp. in the center spread (old-school Battlecat and a character that looks rather like Chewbacca).

On the negative side: I was really hoping the IOE series would give some detailed depth and history to our favorite villains. Alas, this issue just wasn't the case. Beastman is a savage strong-armed into following Keldor. That much we could've assumed from the regular series or even the new cartoon. IOE #1 doesn't give us any more detail into his history, powers, or personality.

Oh well... here's hoping the other IOE issues are better -- I know the comic team has proven capable of greatness. Hopefully characters like Trap-Jaw, who come ripe with questions (where did his arm, hand and jaw go?!) will prove more inspirational fodder for the writing team.

Wakko

[jbshaver]

I personally didn't have any expectations before reading it and really enjoyed it. I just wish it hadn't ended when it did. I'd like to see these "origin" stories written in novelized form so they could go into real detail.

I really liked seeing Keldor kick some butt.

[Jxn]

I just read it and I have to say that it is the worst MOTU comic to come out so far. That being said...I still thought it was pretty good.

Very little information was given on Beast Man other than he joined Keldor because he couldn't stay on the Berserker islands. I thought that with the extra pages in this issue that there would be more plot than in the regular MOTU comics, but instead the comic just used the extra space to put in more full page frames.

The comic was a good one-shot though, giving a nice story that began and ended in the same comic and left the reader (or at least me) satisfied with the story, for all it was worth.

A lot of the reason that I thought this comic could have been better is probably because Beast Man is one of my least favorite villians. He just isn't as interesting to me as Trap Jaw or Tri-Klops who I CAN'T WAIT to learn more about.

So in summary:
IOE Beast Man = not as good as the other MOTU comics so far, but still a fairly good read.

[Meta Ray Mek]

I read this at the comic shop today and I can honestly say that...

The only thing this had going for it was Tony Moore's fantastic art.

Yep, that's the only positive thing I can say about this.

[Eric]

I was disappointed as well. Not completely so, but some nonetheless. I was expecting more story. I figured at twice the size of a regular Masters comic, there'd be plenty of story told. But it was really pretty short, and didn't really give any truly unexpected details as to how Beast Man came to be a follower of Skeletor.

It wasn't all disappointing, though. I like the art, and it's good to see just how vicious Beast Man can be. I also liked how he didn't talk like the stereotypical "big dumb jock" (the way he talks in the cartoon). He seemed almost intelligent, and this lends itself to the idea that Beast Man doesn't follow Skeletor because he's too dumb to do anything else, but rather because he knows he must due to the circumstances surrounding his departure from his home.

Overall, I'd say it probably wasn't worth $5, but I'm not sorry I bought it. Here's to hoping the future Icons of Evil are a little better.

[FATHERGAMER]

I liked it enough to buy it!
the biggest problem was i wanted more,more about the island,more about beastman,and more about what makes beast-man so diffrent than the others on the island,but for action,awsome art,and a view of the past i like it.
i would give it
out of five

[King Kahn]

well i like the little eastereggs of chewbacca and oldschool battle cat like wakko said. also his chariot if you look is the battle ram chariot without the rams, nice touch.

i was impressed when i picked it up since it was a pretty hefty comic. but i was saddened to see that it was a fast read with alot of splash pages. i would have liked a bit more character developement of beast man ala his power over animals and if they even exist at this moment. also it wasn't clear for me but i guess it just wasn't clear enough for me that beast man was a member of this society and not just some random person but after the second reading it was more clear and i picked up on those signals. i guess i just figured he would be a part of his own species(like those cat people) rather than the hodgepodge(cats,dogs,pigs,etc) on the island. but i actually like this idea the more i think about it. they are all savage animals and in a way making them their own race.

wait i take it back. i just reread it and the guys who darted beatman looked alot like him just smaller. guess that is why beastman was so valued by keldor. he's a big brute of a man.


i however liked the reason for him joining. others have said it was clitche but i rather liked it. you could see in the two panels that beast man was saddened by the fact that he could never go back. i really FEEL sad for his character now that i know his story. i really felt that those two panels were the most powerful part of this story. in juat those two panels you all ofa sudden feel deeply sad because you know how he joins,albeit reluctantly, with keldor.

however i just read the preview for triklops and can't wait for that one. and like others have said, i hope for more story and less flash. a novel would be well, a novel idea it would give me even more story to compliment the otherwise greatlooking book. i was like others however sad that it ended where it did and that there were a bunch of ads.now i know that there has to be ads(i am the advertising manager for the newspaper in town and realize that you have to pay for the comic somehow) but the ads for #5 and #6 could have been scratched and replaced with something else since #4 comes out next week. also JVS3 you should take out the wall tins in the ad since they aren't available anymore.

other than that i am not sad about buying the comic and say to everyone buy the comic. it wasn't my favorite motu book but my imagination blew it way out of proportion so that nothing would have been good enough to compete

[HeManOfGreyskull]

I think I agree the others above....it was good, but could have been better. It seemed very rushed, with only two objectives in mind: Getting Keldor and Beast Man to meet, and then getting Beast Man to serve Keldor.


Other then that, there was nothing....no insight as to why Beast Man would even join Keldor, I mean he could have just run off on his own, and perhaps the oddest thing here was no usage of Beast Man's powers....now had Keldor seen that, that would have been a reason to recruit Beast Man, not just cause he's strong(which last I remember so were Whiplash and Clawful)...I was a bit annoyed that Keldor had to go all Street Fighter-ish too...that escape scene would have been perfect for Beast Man to call the gryffens, but instead we get a "kill everyone" and run for our lives....also, I thought Keldor didnt have magic powers, he just had his Darth Maul routine....and speaking of which, where did his sword go?

Anyway, so yeah, here's hoping the other IoE are better written.

[heman4myson]

As long has we have waited on a little background (20 years ) this crap is all we get sorry all but I am really upset that it had no story line.
It feels like they said hey lets throw a bunch of pics together and charge double, because we know they will buy it.

[Robert Kirkman]

Hello folks, I don't think I've ever posted here. I've lurked a bunch, but never really posted. I'm sorry that a few of you have expressed extreme distaste for the Beastman story. To be honest, I wanted to do more, but I was working under strict parimeters from Mattel. I could only go from point A to point B and was not allowed to explore to much because I would have conflicted with future, unwritten, television episodes.

I was only allowed to do so much so I decided to make this an action packed tale since that was a complaint I was seeing about the first MotU mini at the time these were written.

I do think that the story was fun, and that is something I set out to do in all my stories, so I stand by the work in that aspect... I just wish I could have had more fun with it.

-Robert

[JonWes]

Gotta echo most people's thoughts here.

I will say - it was a pretty fun read. Took me 5 minutes though. $5 for 5 minutes? I'll go back and look at the pretty art, but that's it. There's nothing to this story, really.

It's the most straightforward, mundane "origin" of Beastman ever. It's not really an origin at all though, is it? I mean, we get glimpses of his homeland. That was cool, and the artwork sold it (though I think more imagination could have been used on the design of the city then just swiping Incan temples or something) but what the heck. Beastman is the least interesting of Skeletor's warriors to me, and I wasn't expecting much. I thought maybe this would make me appreciate the character more.

But no. I think part of the problem is the way comic stories are told these days. Before, a comic this size could have gotten us from his birth to when he met Skeletor. But these days it's just panel after panel of action. It's pretty, but sort of empty. I don't feel I got my money's worth. Again, maybe I just expected more. I felt like it was some pastiche of things I've seen over and over.

The sad thing is, I LIKED what was there. I liked the interaction of Beastman and Keldor. I liked that Beastman beat him good to begin with. I just wanted more. And the reason Beastman stayed with Keldor was LAME. He could have easily said "Yes, I will go with you and then jetted off as soon as they are off the island" or just found his own way off.

And what was the point of the beginning? To set up the fact that Keldor was looking for Beastman. I get that. But also to give Keldor more power for his magic, I guess. I think it would have been more interesting if Keldor DIDN'T have his magic. Then he would have had to have thought his way out of it.

[JonWes]

Originally posted by Robert Kirkman
Hello folks, I don't think I've ever posted here. I've lurked a bunch, but never really posted. I'm sorry that a few of you have expressed extreme distaste for the Beastman story. To be honest, I wanted to do more, but I was working under strict parimeters from Mattel. I could only go from point A to point B and was not allowed to explore to much because I would have conflicted with future, unwritten, television episodes.

I was only allowed to do so much so I decided to make this an action packed tale since that was a complaint I was seeing about the first MotU mini at the time these were written.

I do think that the story was fun, and that is something I set out to do in all my stories, so I stand by the work in that aspect... I just wish I could have had more fun with it.

-Robert

I kinda assumed that, actually. I was afriad Mattel wouldnt' allow much to be show.

And, for what it's worth, it was well done what was there. Just not a lot was there.

[joe-or]

If we can't be told the origins, why is there a series of "origin"-type stories??? I haven't gotten mine yet, but I was just wondering.

[Buddhaman]

Origin stories are best saved for novels, paperbacks, or the unusually huge comic book. Not a comic this short. It was OK, but lacked a lot of "stuff" in it. Pretty cliche. I'm glad I bought it though.

[King Kahn]

kirkman-

thanks for at least letting us in on some of the behind the curtain stuff with mattel. i figured as much about them letting you tell only certain things.

but at least this means that mattel potentially has plans later to tell us even more which is something to look at in a positive light.

also did anyone see enternia's unluckiest rabbit in this comic? it is the one on crutches bottom right of the page that "chewbacca" is on. pretty funny

[thew40]

Good stuff. Nice, short read. Something to look at when you got a few minutes. A well-done story, worthy of being a part of MOTU. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

~W~

[JVS3]

Robert struggled to make it as entertaining as possible given the plot he had to construct the story from.
We tweaked it as much as we could, but, it was pretty much a done deal before Robert brought it to life.

Sorry if everyone felt it's too short of a read.
A lot of action books do read quickly.

Mer-Man is some amazing eye candy... the art in that book is fantastic.
I can honestly say, be on the lookout for the Trapjaw story.. that one is kickin' like chicken.
Tri-Klops is also an awesome way to end out the IoE.

After all, this is Robert Kirkman... man who wrote Invincible and Tech Jacket and is rumored to be in high demand by Marvel Comics.
His goal is never to write an uninteresting story.

Well... I guess you all won't want to pick up MOTU #4 next week then... 6 pages deal with He-Man eating a bowl of cereal.

[Meta Ray Mek]

Hi Mr. Kirkman!

Well, now I understand why this IoE isn't up to your usual par. Boo to Mattel for putting restrictions on it. Hopefully the Mer-Man IoE will be awesome; since that's the one I want the most out of all of them. (EJ Su is incredible! )