Comic Review - He-Man #1

            Ok, I’ll admit it, I was going to pick this one up regardless of whether I was going to review it or not.  I have been a fan of the Masters of the Universe franchise from the time I was a young boy.  I was born at the right time to enjoy both the cartoon and the toys as they came out.  That being said, anytime something new is brewing in that universe I get a little twinge of anticipation.  I thoroughly enjoyed the revamp that hit in the early 2000s, spearheaded by the new cartoon and the Four Horsemen toys.  In conjunction with that was the new comic book series from MV Creations, which, while it was a little too in step with the old-school mentality of the cartoons in places, was an enjoyable read and beautifully drawn.

            I therefore came into this with high hopes.  While I am not a huge fan of Phillip Tan’s artwork (and he cannot hold a candle to the art of Emiliano Santalucia, the artist of the 2000 era He-Man books) I at least hoped that it was adequate enough to not drive me from the series.  The first promo art that I saw for this series was the cover to issue 1, so let’s start there.

Cover-

            There was a reason that I was not too high on the art in this book going in, and that was the cover.  While it is ok, providing an iconic image of He-Man against a backdrop of Castle Greyskull, it just feels so stiff and boring.  I am sure that the mandate was to create an iconic cover, in the vein of the Adam to He-Man transformation from the cartoons, but even then it seemed less stiff than this.  Something as simple as showing all of He-Man instead of cutting him off at the ankles and tilting the figure instead of just the background (which is not easy to make out given the dark blue coloring) would liven it up a bit.  So many simple, quick fixes could have made this more than it is.  Also, I am not a fan of He-Man’s eyes and the way they are drawn throughout the book (more about that below) and the cover is no different as, instead of just shrouding the eyes in shadow, Tan leaves them blank, so He-Man has that pupil-less look that was all the rage in the 90’s era superhero comics. 

3/10 – I pin this more on the editors than on Tan himself.  They let this get through and become the final cover to the first issue.  This is the first thing that people see and should be used to pull in individuals that do not know what He-Man is about.  Instead its poor quality will probably just drive them away.  Shame on you.

Story-

            This is a decent start to the story.  It is not perfect as it is quite a quick read, but I have come to expect that from most comics, especially those released from the “Big Two” (this is from DC).  It seems like the writer, James Robinson, has picked things up from the end of the cartoon series in the 80’s and has totally discounted the 2000 era series just based on costume designs, but it is still to early to tell because not  much was revealed.  I like the direction that the story is going in though, and it seems like the guys at DC are being allowed a little more creative freedom with the characters than MV Creations was.  Robinson has taken Eternia in a darker direction than any of the past stories this side of fan-fiction which is refreshing as the characters, especially the villains, are easily suited to a more adult-oriented story.  The 80’s era cartoon always used the villains as comedic foils, but the character designs themselves, taken out of the context of the 80’s cartoon are terrifying.  Skeletor is a barbarian with a skull for a head for Christ’s sake.  Robinson does a decent job of playing off of this as he introduces Beast Man in this issue as an adversary for He-Man and does a good job of building the tension within the fight scene.

            Here is the thing with the story though.  It is already setting itself up to be too much like a video-game premise that will prove to be boring.  It is the same old, fight a different bad guy and save another member of the Masters until He-Man reaches the “end boss” in Skeletor.  This may be fine for an issue or two but once the series is done (I think it is five or six issues in all) the formula can get tedious.  While I have not seen any subsequent issues yet and I am not 100% sure that this is how it will end up, I can easily see it happen this way, which is a shame because it just seems like a cop-out way to tell a story.  I hope Robinson finds a way to keep it interesting and engaging besides just stringing us along to the end with the hope that we find out why all the heroes in Eternia have amnesia. 

7/10 – It’s a little short, but I do like the story’s direction.  Let’s see if Robinson can keep this up without becoming formulaic in his approach.

Art-

            The art is good.  It’s not great, though it does show flashes of greatness in parts, such as the full-page shot of Beast Man. 

The detail is nice, and lends to the grittiness of the story itself.  As a comparison, the 2000 era comic was packed with details but everything was open for color where this is darker and utilizes shadows and hatching more which fits.  I would still rather see Santalucia back on a He-Man book but I am sure that DC not only does not care but probably didn’t even pick up that series.

            Anyway, back to the art itself.  I realize that Adam lost his memory and is just a simple lumberjack now, but if I was swinging an axe all day, I would think that I would be a bit bulkier.  Adam’s frame is that of the do-nothing-all-day Prince from the cartoons and would have been believable there.  Here it makes no sense to have him lanky and thin. 

To expand upon the eye thing.  I get it, He-Man is supposed to be the ideal Aryan male, blond hair, blue eyes, fit, etc.  But you do not need to show his blue eyes in every shot, especially if there is barely evidence of a pupil.  This just makes it look like he has magic glowy-eyed powers. 

I would like to draw attention to this panel though as it looks as close to the He-Man of my youth as any page in this book. 

I have a big problem with this splash page.  I realize that it is a dream sequence and therefore not as detailed, or at least it is shown to be that way to delineate from the “real world” but a scene like this should be treated with a little more care.  I would give my right nut to draw that double page spread (and that means a lot, I like my right nut).  By having it so sloppily rendered it not only makes me cringe a little when thinking of issues to come, but also it makes me miss Santalucia even more.  Every panel of his was done with the reverence to the source material that longtime fans appreciated, especially in the big, multi-character fight scenes.  This looks like Tan took his roughs and handed them to the inker.

My final complaint is Skeletor on the last page.  While I like his design, he looks considerably more dangerous than previous iterations, it doesn’t look like he is actually sitting on anything.  He is supposed to be on his throne with his arms resting on the arms of the throne, but that is not clearly defined.  Plus, what the hell is that red head/mask thing?  Is that what gave everyone amnesia?

5/10 – The art was good but the carelessness of that double page spread quickly whittled away any good-will that Tan subsequently built up.  Hopefully it improves as the issues go on and Tan’s comfort drawing these characters grows.

6/10 – Bad cover, decent writing and so-so art make for an ok purchase.  This is much different than the standard superhero drivel that the Big Two are putting out so it might be nice for a change of pace, or if you are a fan and collector of He-Man related materials.  As long as you don’t go in expecting to be blown away you should be ok.  Will I be picking up issue 2?  Of course, if for no other reason than nostalgia.