I was an 80's kid. And a girly-girl to boot. I had Barbie's and Cabbage Patch Kids, Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Ponies. My favourite colour was pink (although in my defence, that was kind of forced upon me, as I was my Grandmother's youngest (by over a decade!) granddaughter, and one of only three, so yeah...), I wore frilly dresses that my Grandmother had made for me and played with dolls. I also, however, had two younger brothers... Who were also 80's kids... Meaning that, in our collective grasp, we also had characters and spaceships from Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Thundercats, Transformers, Blackstar, Silverhawks and of course, He-Man as well as the other Masters of the Universe.
My brothers had Castle Greyskull and Snake Mountain, and everyone from the titular He-Man to Moss Man, Mekaneck and Man-At-Arms, as well as Skeletor and his evil henchmen, Tri-Klops, Trap-Jaw, Beast Man and Mer-Man. The list goes on and on. We lived in a small town, with basic cable, so didn't actually get the cartoon, as it never played there. However, a visit to our Grandparent's house in the city, who's TV programming included a feed from Washington State, was all it took to start our love affair with the residents of Eternia. Every afternoon at 3 o'clock we watched and marvelled. Even now, on Friday nights, when it airs on Teletoon Retro, I have a tendency to put it on now and again. (I know, really rockin' Friday night's going on there! Woot woot!). To say that these characters, as well as many others, weren't a huge part of my life would be a bold faced lie. They defined my childhood. It might be material and superficial, but it's also true.
Needless to say, when I found out that DC comics was doing a limited 6 Issue Edition of He-Man and The Masters of the Universe, I thought, I must read this, and own this, and cherish this. So, on to my monthly subscription list (I know, how dangerous is that, right? Just a click of a button and comic books are shipped to your door on a monthly basis!) it went, and then I waited impatiently for it to arrive, as I'm wont to do.
Finally, the beautiful first issue arrived, all glossy and colourful.
And there he was, He-Man, holding the Sword of Power aloft, Castle Greyskull silhouetted behind him, in all his glory.
Overall, it is an interesting take on the original story. With the supplemental One-Shots of The Origin of He-Man and The Origin of Skeletor (and to a lesser extent, The Origin of Hordak), it's not so much an origin story, but a reboot. It turns out that Skeletor, through a betrayal of some kind by Orko, has enchanted all of the Masters of the Universe, so they now no longer remember who or what they are. That is, until they start dreaming about their old selves. As Adam sets off to find out what's going on, with the help of Zoar, he meets friends and foes along the way. Everything comes to a head when he finds the sword of power, breaking the enchantment and returning everyone to their former selves. Of course, there is an epic battle at the end, that leads to an open door for a continuing series. One that involves other characters from a related show...
The dialogue is witty and quick and the images are beautiful. The characters have a great look to them (shockingly, Teela somehow ends up in nothing but a string bikini... but, whatever!) that reminds of the originals from the cartoon, but is also a little more menacing and superhero-esque.
Overall, I would give this 6 Issue Series a 4/5. If The Masters of the Universe were a part of your childhood, I definitely recommend.
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