He-Man: The Eternity War #8
Publisher: DC
Writer: Dan Abnett
Artist: Pop Mhan & Mark Roberts
Cover: Pop Mhan
This series is so rich in supernatural and sci-fi elements and characters it’s a shame that it’s taken this long for He-Man to actually become great again. Over the past several years DC has been doing wonderful things with the residents of Eternia and specifically Dan Abnett with The Eternity War. He’s continued to make use of such a wide array of characters and give them depth that we haven’t seen here before. We get another spotlight on Adam as Abnett has actually taken He-Man off the table for a while. He’s an unsure King and questioning his decision to break the Sword of Power while his only other course of action is a planet-wide evacuation upon Hordak’s return. Who has been a suitable villain replacing Skeletor as the big bad for right now. Though both have become much better protagonists under the hand of Abnett, Hordak is clearly the winner in this issue. He’s gained the Eyes of Grayskull and has proclaimed himself the Master of the Universe. While Abnett continues to focus on Skeletor’s strengths of lies and cunning without making him a joke of a character. The twist with She-Ra towards the end just goes to show you can never really trust him whether he’s family or not.
Some of the characters here have outrageous designs but Pop Mhan makes them work almost perfectly. You really won’t mind seeing who comes next as he tones down the ridiculous and just gives you what’s necessary. He has made Fisto look credible along the way with a few others and it’s just been great. The massive battle scenes are crowded and chaotic which they should be when you have all of Eternia’s fighters going up against Hordak’s horde. Even character redesigns have been pretty good especially for She-Ra who has a bit more armor but still holds on to the traditional look. Skeletor also has a slightly newer design as well but Mhan concentrates on making him creepy and heightening the skeletal look of his face. The only costume that isn’t too exciting is the re-re-design for He-Man. The new look that was soon abandoned was just a better and more practical design but now he’s sporting something a little closer to the original.
There does seem to be a lot going on in this issue as well as the last few others. There’s been some very good character development along the way but it just seems as if it’s high time we got more of Hordak. He’s the primary villain here but we haven’t spent as much time with him as we have everyone else. Hopefully with this newly acquired power we’ll get more focus on him in the upcoming issues.
So if you’re wondering if you should take a chance on another 80s property that’s been turned into a comic this one should be on your list. The creative team has made it worth picking up for some time now and it’s been fun seeing what they come up with for the fans.
Infinite Speech
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