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He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2012) #4
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #4
Eternia has been defeated! After capturing He-Man, Despara is ordered to bring him before Hordak! Is this the end of the Prince of Power?
32 pages, Paperback
First published November 14, 2012
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18 people want to read
About the author
Keith Giffen
1,935 books215 followersKeith Ian Giffen was an American comic book illustrator and writer. He is possibly best-known for his long runs illustrating, and later writing the Legion of Super-Heroes title in the 1980s and 1990s. He also created the alien mercenary character Lobo (with Roger Slifer), and the irreverent "want-to-be" hero, Ambush Bug. Giffen is known for having an unorthodox writing style, often using characters in ways not seen before. His dialogue is usually characterized by a biting wit that is seen as much less zany than dialogue provided by longtime collaborators DeMatteis and Robert Loren Fleming. That approach has brought him both criticism and admiration, as perhaps best illustrated by the mixed (although commercially successful) response to his work in DC Comics' Justice League International (1987-1992). He also plotted and was breakdown artist for an Aquaman limited series and one-shot special in 1989 with writer Robert Loren Fleming and artist Curt Swan for DC Comics.
Giffen's first published work was "The Sword and The Star", a black-and-white series featured in Marvel Preview, with writer Bill Mantlo. He has worked on titles (owned by several different companies) including Woodgod, All Star Comics, Doctor Fate, Drax the Destroyer, Heckler, Nick Fury's Howling Commandos, Reign of the Zodiac, Suicide Squad, Trencher (to be re-released in a collected edition by Boom! Studios)., T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and Vext. He was also responsible for the English adaptation of the Battle Royale and Ikki Tousen manga, as well as creating "I Luv Halloween" for Tokyopop. He also worked for Dark Horse from 1994-95 on their Comics Greatest World/Dark Horse Heroes line, as the writer of two short lived series, Division 13 and co-author, with Lovern Kindzierski, of Agents of Law. For Valiant Comics, Giffen wrote XO-Manowar, Magnus, Robot Fighter, Punx and the final issue of Solar, Man of the Atom.
He took a break from the comic industry for several years, working on storyboards for television and film, including shows such as The Real Ghostbusters and Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy.
He is also the lead writer for Marvel Comics's Annihilation event, having written the one-shot prologue, the lead-in stories in Thanos and Drax, the Silver Surfer as well as the main six issues mini-series. He also wrote the Star-Lord mini-series for the follow-up story Annihilation: Conquest. He currently writes Doom Patrol for DC, and is also completing an abandoned Grant Morrison plot in The Authority: the Lost Year for Wildstorm.
Giffen's first published work was "The Sword and The Star", a black-and-white series featured in Marvel Preview, with writer Bill Mantlo. He has worked on titles (owned by several different companies) including Woodgod, All Star Comics, Doctor Fate, Drax the Destroyer, Heckler, Nick Fury's Howling Commandos, Reign of the Zodiac, Suicide Squad, Trencher (to be re-released in a collected edition by Boom! Studios)., T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and Vext. He was also responsible for the English adaptation of the Battle Royale and Ikki Tousen manga, as well as creating "I Luv Halloween" for Tokyopop. He also worked for Dark Horse from 1994-95 on their Comics Greatest World/Dark Horse Heroes line, as the writer of two short lived series, Division 13 and co-author, with Lovern Kindzierski, of Agents of Law. For Valiant Comics, Giffen wrote XO-Manowar, Magnus, Robot Fighter, Punx and the final issue of Solar, Man of the Atom.
He took a break from the comic industry for several years, working on storyboards for television and film, including shows such as The Real Ghostbusters and Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy.
He is also the lead writer for Marvel Comics's Annihilation event, having written the one-shot prologue, the lead-in stories in Thanos and Drax, the Silver Surfer as well as the main six issues mini-series. He also wrote the Star-Lord mini-series for the follow-up story Annihilation: Conquest. He currently writes Doom Patrol for DC, and is also completing an abandoned Grant Morrison plot in The Authority: the Lost Year for Wildstorm.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 31, 2013
You can read the full review over at my blog:
http://sonsofcorax.wordpress.com/2013...
Last year, DC relaunched their He-Man and The Masters of The Universe line with a six-issue mini-series and a few digital issues that tied into that story. Originally written by James Robinson, Keith Giffen was brought on from just the second issue because of the lukewarm response that the former’s first issue had received. And DC did seem committed to the project, so thankfully the mini-series was put out on time, for the most part, and the digital tie-ins followed suit as well. Soon as the mini-series finished, DC then announced that Giffen and artist Pop Mhan would be staying on to helm a new ongoing that would use the mini-series as a launching point.
I was reading the issues as they were released, but lost track of things in the middle. It mostly had to do with how slow the story was moving and so I resolved to get back to it once all the issues of the first arc had been released, and I could read them back to back. Now that that’s happened, and the series has seen a major creative change with writer Dan Abnett and artist Rafael Kayanan being brought in, I finally read the first six issues back to back last night, and they do make for a better experience when read as such. While the story isn’t all that exciting, is kind of a redo of the 1985 animated movie He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of The Sword, and some of the character designs are a bit weak, its kind of fun still. I’m a sucker for anything He-Man, so I’m sure I’m more forgiving than most.
Note: The actual graphic novel has not been released and I’m assuming that when it is, the first six issues are going to be in it, and not anything else.
The third and fourth issues deal a lot with the backstory of Teela and Adora having known each other as kids. Its kind of an open subplot and is played off by both as being hallucinations or just the imaginations of kids, and it doesn’t work so well. Perhaps it could have worked had this been an all ages book, but this series is rather adult-oriented given the violence in here, and the somewhat complex stories as well. The flashback scenes are drawn well, and scripted well too, but they don’t have as much of a resonance if we look at the entire six-issue arc. Some of it slows down the story, necessarily so given the almost non-stop action and pitched battles, but largely I liked them other than that one continuity-relevant flaw.
There’s a switch in the colours around halfway through the third issue and it jars because its the different between night and day. Sort of. The first half uses primarily dark palettes, while the second half uses primarily light palettes. Its as if the tone just shifts, without there being any kind of a script shift. Which is very odd.
And as much as these two issues are about the relationship between Adora (Despara) and Teela, they are also about He-Man upgrading himself, so to speak. His powers, such as they are, are not enough to stop the Horde from destroying Eternia, and so he needs new tools, and a new mindset. This is where an old friend, the former resident of Castle Grayskull comes in. The inclusion of this character seems a bit of a cop-out given what happened in the mini-series, and it comes across as a little clumsy too. Still, it deepens all the mystery surrounding Castle Grayskull, especially all the power that is Grayskull’s legacy, and this is indeed a central theme of the series in the next two issues once Adora confronts Shadow Weaver and even Hordark himself with the truth.
One great thing about the fourth issue is that we finally see Mekaneck and Man-at-Arms confronts him about how much grief Teela gives him. Mekaneck’s response is very endearing and it too shows off a lighter side to the setting, and to Teela herself, the latter of which has indeed been one of my favourite things about this series.
Despite all the good things about these two issues, what bugged me was the temporary “end” to the character drama between Despara and Teela. It is extremely sudden and there doesn’t seem to be any reason for it, other than just petulance on Despara’s part. And it kind of doesn’t make sense either given what’s been established of Despara’s character, especially not when the ongoing theme is that she has to confront and fight against the brainwashing she has been subject to all her life. That was the only real sore issue for me in these two issues.
The fourth issue ends with a predictable but no less thrilling cliffhanger. Like I said, the entire story is basically a modern retelling and remake of The Secret of The Sword, and I was kind of waiting for this to happen. Seeing it happen, and ending the issue with it makes for a great story beat, and its nice to see.
With respect to the artwork, no real issues other than when He-Man is busy “upgrading” himself in the depths of Castle Grayskull. The particular “dual” nature of those panels just feels really odd, and it could have been handled much better I think. The repetition doesn’t help in any way other than just being overkill. There are some inconsistencies in how Despara and Teela are drawn throughout these two issues and this was a bit grating too. Mateo Guererro and Alex Gimenez join Pop Mhan on the pencils for the third and fourth issues respectively and some of that inconsistency can probably be put down to that. Not to mention that there seems to be somewhat of a rotating team of inkers and colourists. All of it means that the art isn’t as strong as it could be, and it is disappointing to see.
http://sonsofcorax.wordpress.com/2013...
Last year, DC relaunched their He-Man and The Masters of The Universe line with a six-issue mini-series and a few digital issues that tied into that story. Originally written by James Robinson, Keith Giffen was brought on from just the second issue because of the lukewarm response that the former’s first issue had received. And DC did seem committed to the project, so thankfully the mini-series was put out on time, for the most part, and the digital tie-ins followed suit as well. Soon as the mini-series finished, DC then announced that Giffen and artist Pop Mhan would be staying on to helm a new ongoing that would use the mini-series as a launching point.
I was reading the issues as they were released, but lost track of things in the middle. It mostly had to do with how slow the story was moving and so I resolved to get back to it once all the issues of the first arc had been released, and I could read them back to back. Now that that’s happened, and the series has seen a major creative change with writer Dan Abnett and artist Rafael Kayanan being brought in, I finally read the first six issues back to back last night, and they do make for a better experience when read as such. While the story isn’t all that exciting, is kind of a redo of the 1985 animated movie He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of The Sword, and some of the character designs are a bit weak, its kind of fun still. I’m a sucker for anything He-Man, so I’m sure I’m more forgiving than most.
Note: The actual graphic novel has not been released and I’m assuming that when it is, the first six issues are going to be in it, and not anything else.
The third and fourth issues deal a lot with the backstory of Teela and Adora having known each other as kids. Its kind of an open subplot and is played off by both as being hallucinations or just the imaginations of kids, and it doesn’t work so well. Perhaps it could have worked had this been an all ages book, but this series is rather adult-oriented given the violence in here, and the somewhat complex stories as well. The flashback scenes are drawn well, and scripted well too, but they don’t have as much of a resonance if we look at the entire six-issue arc. Some of it slows down the story, necessarily so given the almost non-stop action and pitched battles, but largely I liked them other than that one continuity-relevant flaw.
There’s a switch in the colours around halfway through the third issue and it jars because its the different between night and day. Sort of. The first half uses primarily dark palettes, while the second half uses primarily light palettes. Its as if the tone just shifts, without there being any kind of a script shift. Which is very odd.
And as much as these two issues are about the relationship between Adora (Despara) and Teela, they are also about He-Man upgrading himself, so to speak. His powers, such as they are, are not enough to stop the Horde from destroying Eternia, and so he needs new tools, and a new mindset. This is where an old friend, the former resident of Castle Grayskull comes in. The inclusion of this character seems a bit of a cop-out given what happened in the mini-series, and it comes across as a little clumsy too. Still, it deepens all the mystery surrounding Castle Grayskull, especially all the power that is Grayskull’s legacy, and this is indeed a central theme of the series in the next two issues once Adora confronts Shadow Weaver and even Hordark himself with the truth.
One great thing about the fourth issue is that we finally see Mekaneck and Man-at-Arms confronts him about how much grief Teela gives him. Mekaneck’s response is very endearing and it too shows off a lighter side to the setting, and to Teela herself, the latter of which has indeed been one of my favourite things about this series.
Despite all the good things about these two issues, what bugged me was the temporary “end” to the character drama between Despara and Teela. It is extremely sudden and there doesn’t seem to be any reason for it, other than just petulance on Despara’s part. And it kind of doesn’t make sense either given what’s been established of Despara’s character, especially not when the ongoing theme is that she has to confront and fight against the brainwashing she has been subject to all her life. That was the only real sore issue for me in these two issues.
The fourth issue ends with a predictable but no less thrilling cliffhanger. Like I said, the entire story is basically a modern retelling and remake of The Secret of The Sword, and I was kind of waiting for this to happen. Seeing it happen, and ending the issue with it makes for a great story beat, and its nice to see.
With respect to the artwork, no real issues other than when He-Man is busy “upgrading” himself in the depths of Castle Grayskull. The particular “dual” nature of those panels just feels really odd, and it could have been handled much better I think. The repetition doesn’t help in any way other than just being overkill. There are some inconsistencies in how Despara and Teela are drawn throughout these two issues and this was a bit grating too. Mateo Guererro and Alex Gimenez join Pop Mhan on the pencils for the third and fourth issues respectively and some of that inconsistency can probably be put down to that. Not to mention that there seems to be somewhat of a rotating team of inkers and colourists. All of it means that the art isn’t as strong as it could be, and it is disappointing to see.
November 22, 2025
skeletor worried
actually a failure
wait til he's leto
actually a failure
wait til he's leto
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