#he man skeletor motu

[vintage1976]

The fright zone by Mattel

[atomic-chronoscaph]

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - art by Earl Norem (1986)

[grimewart]

guy that says myaah

[overlordneon]

Color wheel challenge but its just the characters I'm willing to kin

[johnny-dynamo]

Masters Of The Universe by Mateus Cosme

[clankhead]

Skeletor

Super7

Today we’re graced with the mightiest sorcerer of all the realm. First time working on a keshi figure and it feels weird.

Nyeh heh heh!

[scoutinspace]

Between the devil and the devil you know

[current-comix]

[mj-inthegrass]

ok serve 💅

[vintage1976]

Masters of the universe ad

[lichdandy]

Skeletor and Panthor

[swervesfirstblaster]

most jaw-dropping moment of the show like THEY DID IT?!?!?!? IM SEEING THAT FUCKING ADORA LITTLE HEAD IN HIS ARMS MATTEL

AND the toys omg the tiger and unicorn plushies the castle and horse toy in the back

[maekar76]

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

[johnny-dynamo]

Masters Of The Universe by Ryan Barger

[tired-demonspawn]

i feel his "WHY?!???! because???? the bones????" in my bones

bro has golden material this is like the 5th time nobody got one of his quibbles, i feel his pain in my heart.

[andhereisthetea]

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: REVOLUTION comic Issue No. 1 by Dark Horse Comics (available here)

Summary:

"Journey to the earliest days of one of the universe’s most consequential, and fraught, team ups in this first issue of the official four-part prequel to the Netflix streaming event. Hordak is an ambitious general, eager to make his mark; Skeletor is an aspiring mage, hungry for power. Joining forces, melding ancient Eternian magic with advanced Horde technology, could bring them all their evil hearts’ desire…but they’ll have to survive each other first."

I'm going to proudly admit that I've sacrificed hours of sleep writing this, sorry for the bad spelling.

Okay, Masters of the Universe Revolution prequel comics was released early past month (May 15th) and as a MOTU/She-Ra fan I just had to check on it after watching the last season. And oh boy, there is a lot to unpack here….

The story of this prequel arc is centered around Keldor's origin and life as Hordak's apprentice, very much like "The Secret Origin of Skeletor" from the Minicomics era (which you can find here in @emperorsfoot blog), which took a lot from the He-Man 200x show and comics. I would say this is a rightful continuity to what the 200x never did, but with a pitch of new plot material and new perspectives to add.

For once, the writers also took a focus in Hordak's mysterious backtory and point of view through the issue, now is not only Keldor who shows his perspective of the story but also Hordak has something to say; both are the protagonists, not only one of them, which also shows us a glimpse of their future relationship as apprentice-master.

Lets start.

The story begins with a tale told by an unknown figure, (whose identity is addressed in the next pages) about a big battle (the first balled in the Universe) between the forces of Zoar (our beloved Preternian God from which the Goddess' powers belong) and Ka, God who would be the representation of Serpos in this continuity (the deity of the Snakemen). As the tale says, both turned against each other... until Ha'vok arrived.

According to this unknown person, Ha'vok is a deity and power who brings balance between Zoar and Ka, but entered a type of... stagnacy over time. Now, who is the champion?

Now, the first scene of the issue, oh boy. I love when the Horde has a good intro.

The Horde has always been a favorite of mine, and the introduction of two new female characters (you know, because the writers can't use any of the female characters belonging to the She-Ra continuity due to copyright reasons) has put a smile on my face for real. These two characters were designed by Alex Gimenez, but he couldn't continue with the comic project unfortunately:

They are a cool new addition to the Horde team, and I am very happy to see the original Horde members around too.

We are in Anwat Gar... the Island which was already mentioned by the 200x show as a site with great technology, as well as in the Revelation prequel comics, showing us is the site where the Gar lived in this continuity.

The Horde is attacking the place for an unknown reason, and at some point is mentioned that magic is actually forbidden in that place, contrary to what is seem during Randor's rule in the present.

Meanwhile, where is Hordak?

You see it right??! for old MOTU fans, this is the Fright Zone playset!

Apparently, Hordak has used the attack as a type of distraction to get to this place, he is looking for answers, and only magical entities can give it to him:

I want to take a moment to appreciate the call back to She-Ra's classic comics because these Fortune Sisters are a tribute to the 'Enchanted Sisters' who canonically ended up tricking Hordak in the classic comics:

Also, some dialogue of the scene:

Who the hell is Gaull?!

Soooo I had to go back to the He-Man character encyclopedia, remembering that Hordak's father was caller "Seferus-kur" also known as Horde Supreme, killed by Horde Prime (Anillis Kur) and Hordak (Hec-tor Kur), this info is ONLY in the MOTU 2008 bios and also to the 200x continuity (that is the story they wanted to use for the comics), so I guess they have choosen to retcon Hordak's origin story and also add a name for his father, because contrary to DC's interpretation, Prime is Hordak's older brother here:

Note to add, Revolution's continuity choose to go by a technological background for Hordak rather than magic, making the Horde a highly technological empire which despises magic.

More dialogue, Hordak's prompting to Eternia's ChatGPT

Man... the future will kick you in the ass.

Also, FINALLY the introduction to our second important protagonist in this issue...

Keldor's backstory is very similar to his 200x one, the only difference is that in this continuity he knows who his mother is, as if he had been raised by her rather than with Miro's. In fact, he was pushed to go and live with her by his father in the end. And surprise, she is a magic user, which was already pointed out as something forbidden in Anwat Gar, but Keldor doesn't care and uses his magic to attack the Horde invaders.

Saryn (Keldor's mother in 200x, here we don't have a name yet but I guess they will go with her original one) is the first magic teacher of Keldor, and she taught him for most of his young life, together with the magic history of Eternia, so we can already imagine who was narrating the story of Eternia's deities in the begining:

She taught him two things 1) we are made to defy and surpass our teachers 2) Keldor is destined to exceed Miro (Randor's and Keldor's father) at all cost and become a champion.

As well, she maintains a kind of telepathic connection with Keldor, where she constantly tells him he is destined to be a champion. But if she communicates with Keldor this way, where is she? apparently in some type of expedition:

Meanwhile Hordak has become frustrated by the Fortune Sister, who are trying to follow his indications, but going around the destiny of... someone else, who will accompany him through a parallel path:

"Grayskull's heir, yet unborn, will ground the ascendat bat, and in the fierce and final battle, Des-"

Screams internally... Hordak shut up and let the magic women speak.

Interesting thing, there seems to be a disagreement between some of the Fortune Sisters here, I wonder why?

*snorts* I really love this panel so much, Hordak is just so arrogant he thinks he would get it right away... man what if this was charged by some type of magic that would have killed you in an instant?!

Now we get to Anwat Gar again, where Keldor is trying to reach his mother while battling the Horde, meanwhile the citizens are more concerned about a magic user saving them than the whole Horde army around destroying the city, so we can say they have their priorities.

Finally Hordak arrives, helping a wounded Keldor and telling him it was all a distraction, as well Hordak tells him some interesting things:

"My name is Hordak, Supreme commander of the Horde fleet, Next in line to the Emperor's throne" hmmm...

Is important to highlight, is not Hordak who convinced Keldor to join the Horde, but his mother:

Finally, Keldor is recruited by Hordak to join the Horde, telling him they had uncovered a great power, and manipulating him (quite easily) to search for his rightful destiny.

Some things I liked about this issue:

The illustrations and art are ways better than most MOTU comics I've seem, even DC comics gets short in quality.

I liked the subtle call backs to the classic comics, the use of new characters, especially with the copyright issue, I believe the Fortune Sisters are going to reemplace Shadow Weaver, and the new Hordewomen are here to stay. We can see they cared for this story, especially with how much Lore they are trying to inplement here, blending most of the past continuities to create a new logic.

I liked that the Horde is a technological empire, just like the classic Filmation shows, and Hordak clrearly is the same arrogant and proud commander, still I can see he is more cunning and intelligent here, not the buffoon he was in the 80s, he is a good blend between his past continuities, including 2018. There is ambition in what he says, but his arrogance takes the worst of him.

If I have to point out what disappointed me the most... I do believe Keldor's introduction. He seems to be too young maybe, still focused in his mother's teaching and being seem as a rightful heir by Miro, his father. He is easily manipulated both by his mother (we don't know if she is good or bad yet) and by Hordak. he is desesperate to have his destiny and legacy.

I don't trust the Fortune sisters, or the only one of them who presented Hordak's with the Ha'vok staff, is evident she is going to be an antagonist in the future, and maybe she is Keldor's mother trying to led his son into a path for power using Hordak, which could be Keldor's undoing.

Thanks to @pennamesmith @lemaistrechat and @kuurankaiho for talking with me about this issue, is always good when there are more MOTU material to explore XD