Masters of the Universe #2

 

Masters of the Universe #2 of 4
Story & Colour: Val Staples
Pencil: Emiliano Santalucia & Enza Fontana
Inker: Marco Failla
Colours: Jeremy Padawer, Heather Schneider, Geoff Walker

   So i was asked recently after finishing my first review, "Troy you nazi bastard, why are you touching base on a series i never heard of an that ran back in 2002?". to which i throw away my SS uniform to reply, only that I loved the franchise when i was younger and felt that the series much like any other indy comic company deserve the recognition for their hard work on any series. but i decided rather than be lazy and wait till later this week. ill bite the bullet and review part two of the shard of darkness series.
 

The Story

   The first part of the story is mostly just background. a long conversation be He-man and Man-at-arms as they go into the ancient castle of Grayskull. along the way you learn more of the lore of Eternia, where in the past constant wars were being fought for control of Eternia itself. Castle Grayskull was meant to be used as a fortress as the last remnant of freedom where heroes banded together to stop evil. the origins of how it was made or who made it were still a mystery as there are tons of stories. 
   
   It starts to pick up when they meet the sorceress and she tells He-man and the others, that this was the shard of darkness, it was part of a larger crystal called the Shakarran crystal. it was created by the elders to house so much magical power, but later used as a prison for an evil entity who was not named (im thinking voldemort). in all over the sorceress's brilliant wisdom she instructs He-man he must journey to find the rest of the crystal and banish it back to the dimension it was sealed in. the first place she suggests is beyond the remains of the mystic wall, and into the Dark Hemisphere.
  
  

Quick tip: For those who don't know any thing on Eternia, in its history there was a spell of separation that nearly tore the planet apart, as a side effect there was a light hemisphere and a dark. In this dark part it is almost perpetual night all the time. 
  
    Back to Snake Mountain, we see Evil Lyn trying to seduce Trap Jaw with a piece of rare metal called Eternium. Trap Jaw apparently eats or uses this metal to up grade his systems. They go on about retrieving something which they do not get into specifics but it apparently would upset Skeletor quite a bit. Evil Lyn calls Trap jaw a coward and just to get the job done. same thing repeats as she leaves the room, The conversation carries with Tri-klops who was waiting out the door. They argue about Tri-klops being a servant of Skeletor and how he will go no where. Tri-klops believes in destiny and it will deal him the cards of his fate. Evil Lyn just finished watching Terminator says Fate is only what you make it.  

 

  He-man and Man-at-arms arrive at the wall where they talk about it standing tall for almost 20 years and skeletor knocked it down. He-man makes a comment, in a tone which is not his style so right off the bat we can see that he is being affected by something. Right here is a little fan boy in me loves cause im reminded of the horrible movie from the 80's, which i love. He-man travels across the sands of time. this whole lord of the rings walking theme suggest he could have been gone for almost a day. in the end the crystal glowed brighter and it brought him to the one place he knew he would not be surprised. Snake Mountain. The issue comes to an end with Evil Lyn coming up from behind He-man with a very eager look.

The Pretty Colours

 
  I have to say, the art made the issue again. even though there was very little action it was alot of talking and walking. much like the lord of the rings. but with great visuals comes great comics. if we all wanted just a story we would have bought novels. but its the visuals that help tell the story. Stantalucia delivers great penciling again, and Staples wraps it up in a nice bow of colours. Im not going gush. but i have to give it to art for this issue for keeping the reader interested through most of this issue. 
 
  Fan boyism moments in this issue. there are a few instances that im reminded of the Movie and the classic toyline. and the art in both of the issues like to remind me of that. where i spend a panel going "OH MAN! I REMEMBER THAT!." one of them is being the Disk rider, this was one of those things where you had to sit through horror to get the delight of out it. which is the 1980's Masters of the Universe movie. there was a scene with robots called Air Centurians where they rode around on floating disks, He-man stole one, which brings me back to the panel. right there the image from that panel sends waves of memories. 
 

  Depending on which art cover you got for this my favorite is cover A which is posted here. Cover B which was by Fancis Manapul, Joe Weems, and Val Staples. rather than the story type cover we are treated to a cover with the current masters at the time. minus buzz off. The cover does get me into buying the issues. but for story wise cover A makes the most sense. while the alternate makes me think its another castle defend issue. but overall I give the Art and 4.5 out of the 5.

 

Overall Thoughts

 
   Twas a good issue, but i find this issue was more for the old he-man fans than anything else. it seemed like it tried to push the issue on to make it last longer. but it did its job we got more background on the planet, more information on Castle Greyskull as well as character development. Its a roll of the dice really when you focus more on background and character development. for people like me who want to advance more in the story it takes away a few points from us. 
   

   Despite the lack of huge advancement in the story we are treated to great visuals, and a change to a childhood icon. most times you forget that he is He-man that 80's cartoon character who was practically superman in a loin cloth. Emiliano like in Transformers comics saves the day with great penciling, mixed in with good colour scheme you will have a good story. as we get to the second half of the series im sure the story is going to round itself up. and the action will pick up. 
 
 Overall i give it a 3.5. though it sounds low. most of it is to the visuals. Staples and Emiliano go above and beyond when it comes to making the planet Eternia in comic form. its not Alex ross artwork but to me making the he-man universe like this. its damn close. if you ever can find any of these two issues or find it buried under somewhere, take it out of the plastic and enjoy it. ill be back later on with another review of Masters of the Universe #3 of 4 in the Shard of Darkness Story Arc.