Wednesday, October 22, 2014

He-Man and The Masters of The Universe #18 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Dan Abnett
Art By: Pop Mhan, Mark Roberts
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: October 22, 2014



Taking On The Family Business


Last issue of He-Man and The Masters of The Universe we saw that Teela is a bit of a dick because she led Adora to slice her brother, He-Man's throat.  You See Teela set in motion a bunch of events that she saw as leading to Adora finding the Sword of Protection and technically she's still on that path, but there's still He-Man's throat to think about.  Back in the day about thousand years ago, King Grayskull's handmaiden, Saryn slit his throat and was then forever cursed, but she's also the one who first found the Sword of Protection and has kept it in a cave on Anwat-Gar ever since as she got more and more deadite looking.  So it's a thousand years later and now the sword is Adora's only chance in healing He-Man and this girl plans on recovering her birthright.  Let's check out this issue as we see Adora go up against the evil dead Saryn for the ultimate prize.  

Explain It!:

Well our story begins like I said with Adora facing off against the monstrous Saryn.  It's all head games here where Saryn tries to play Adora's fears against her.  You know the deal, "Your brother doesn't love you, your mother doesn't love you, they're all going to laugh at you" it's all the usual stuff.  Luckily Saryn's plans actually work against her and Adora decides that none of that matters.  No matter what her parents might have planned for her or what Hordak might have planned for her, she's going to choose her own destiny and she chooses Grayskull.  No, I'm serious she actually says she chooses Grayskull and when she does the Sword of Protection comes to life for the first time and it's power begins disintegrating Saryn's evil..... and by evil I mean body.  Well Adora's no dummy, she uses this distraction to take the serpent blade and plunge it deep into the witch that was once the most trusted of Grayskull's handmaidens.  


Saryn dies and with her the curse that's plagued the Gar people since their betrayal against the King a thousand years ago, but before she breathes her last breath she says that her son will live on and we're shown Skeletor.  I see the family resemblance.  

Adora now free to take the Sword of Protection, instinctively says the words, "For the honor of Grayskull, I am She-Ra" and becomes the Princess of Power and we all go wild.  


Now She-Ra races back to He-Man to see if she can cure that awful disease....... slashed throat-itis and as it turns out she can.  He-Man comes to and as you'd imagine stares at his sister and wonders what the hell he missed.  Confusion will have to wait though because that Fright Zone is right up on top of them.  It's really a good thing that Adora got back when she did because there really wasn't any time left before He-Man would of been swallowed up by Hordak's machinations.  So excellent dramatic timing Adora.  So how do you stop an oncoming storm of Fright?  Why you simply have matching swords with your sibling and yell about your power and BAM!  No more Fright.  So Anwat-Gar is now curse free and fright free and Adam declares that the people will no longer be pariahs and there was much rejoicing.


In the end Tri-Klops makes it back to the epicenter of Hordak's Fright movement that was once the mighty Castle Grayskull, there we find out that the reason Tri-Klops was sent to retrieve He-Man's blood is that it's the key to freeing Hordak from Despondos and also to unlocking the secrets of the castle.  So Yay She-Ra!  Boo He-Man's blood falling into the wrong hands!  


That's it for this issue of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and the end of The Origin of She-Ra.  It's nice having Despera out of the picture and Adora She-Ra-ing it up on a full time basis now.  While I really enjoyed the issue I don't know if anything will ever match the impact that I felt from the first part of this story that dealt with King Grayskulls' demise, but even if nothing ever compares to that story for me again, this book was still something great to read.  Really fun issue that will lead us into next month's prelude to the Eternity War.  Make sure you come back for that.

Bits and Pieces:

While I love Pop Mhan's art I don't know if this book could look as good as it does without the colors by Mark Roberts.  No matter where these two go in the future I think they should always work together because this book never stops looking amazing.  We've reached the conclusion to the origin of She-Ra and it's been a fun and exciting ride and while it might come off as a little anti-climactic to some, it all works when you see Adora grab her sword and speak her oath.  Definitely one of the best books that DC puts out.  Check it out.

9/10

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