Wednesday, August 27, 2014

He-Man and The Masters of The Universe #16 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Dan Abnett
Art By: Pop Mhan
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: August 27, 2014


Deja Vu


This story line began with issue #13's look into the past and the death of King Grayskull.  We learned that King Hiss disguised as one of the trusted Gar people, set up a revolt that led to the murder of the fabled King, from the hands of his most trusted handmaiden, a girl he saw as his daughter.  Now we jump to the future where Adora is trying to figure out her place in the world since she learned the truth about who she was and her journey led her to the forbidden island of Anwat-Gar, the home of the treacherous Gar people.  To make sure she got where she was going, the new Sorceress Teela sent He-Man to escort his sister and the two made their way past a Fright Zone and rescued Adora's new friend Swiftwind, as they made their way to the island.  Let's see how the siblings of power fair on an island that Eternians haven't stepped on in a thousand years.  Let's check it out.

Explain It!:

So our heroes get to Anwat-Gar, where right in the beginning Swiftwind and He-Man sense something is off.  This feeling is multiplied when all at once He-Man and Adora are surrounded by the Gar and Swiftwind books it for the woods.  Adora runs off after her new friend and He-Man is about to join her when the Gar people tell him it's not safe to enter the woods because of a witch and they'll send people in that know the paths to search for his sister.  This already seems bad.

OH NO, IT'S THE GAR!
Since He-Man isn't looking for his sister, he's setting down a new law of Eternia where the people of Gar will be forbidden no longer, because the sins of the father shouldn't be passed down to their children......... and there was much rejoicing.  But then that old feeling of dread comes over me again, when He-Man is staring at his wine glass and one of the Gar ask if there is something wrong with it.  Well all my fears are put to rest when He-Man simply responds that he's worried about Adora.  While we're on the subject, let's go check out what the Princess of Power is up to.

Eventually Adora catches up with Swiftwind and when she does she immediately begins hearing things in the woods.  It's all very eerie, but it comes to a head when a smoky image of King Grayskull appears and points at Adora's sword.  Yeah let's talk about this sword for a second.  We saw this sword slice the throat of the mighty King and then we saw Teela give it to Adora as a gift a thousand years later.  Well she made He-Man give it to her as a gift, but what I'm getting at here is, what the hell is Teela up to?  Adora's already having visions of King Grayskull's handmaiden Saryn and giving her the sword just sounds like a bad idea.  But anyway the vision of King Grayskull fades and we see that the vision has moved to her sword, which is now covered in blood and we leave Adora with what seems like a confused look about the meaning behind this phantom.

Back at the Gar village, He-Man is worried about Adora and finally decides that he'll go look for her, when the Gar people tell him that she's already been found and waiting for him at the temple.  Well okay that was fast, let's see what Adora's up to in the temple.  You know those feelings of dread I had earlier?  Well now I see that they weren't unwarranted because waiting for He-Man inside is Tri-Klops and besides for that unfortunate event, it seems that the Gar have given He-Man the same paralytic wine that they gave King Grayskull a thousand years earlier.  So now He-Man's helpless and we learn that Tri-Klops has been hired by Hordak to kill him and has offered the Gar people survival for when he takes over Eternia.  So it's bad all around.  

I THINK IT WAS HIS EYE, YES IT WAS THIS!
WHENEVER IT FELL UPON ME, MY BLOOD RAN COLD
In the end I have a brief feeling of relief when we see that Adora has found her way back, but instead of helping her brother we see her brandish her sword and what looks like her cutting He-Man's throat.  WTF!!!?????  Deja Vu like a mother fucker!  I don't know how this will play into next month's issue, but goddamn am I going to be picking that up right away, because Dan Abnett just blew my mind.  

OH GOD! HIS BEAUTIFUL THROAT!
That's it for this month's He-Man and The Masters of The Universe and hot damn am I fired up for another issue already.  Looking at the art, all I can say is that Pop Mhan better not ever leave this title because it will never be the same without him drawing our heroes and villains of Eternia.  Don't spread this around, but I think he might be a wizard.  It's the only explanation on how he can make this book pop...... ha ha Pop the way he does.  So come back next month as we continue the Origin of She-Ra, you won't want to miss this.

Bits and Pieces:

This series is just amazing and I don't know how this creative team can put out gold month after month.  I tell people all the time that used to know He-Man when they were younger, that it's better than ever now and that they should jump back into this world they loved as a child and this issue is no exception.  Everyone out there in interwebs land should be reading this book, because it's definitely one of the best titles that DC is putting out now.  So go on and get it!

9/10

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