He-Man and the MOTU (2013) Issues #7-12

Welcome to The Pullback. Join us as we dig out

our latest comics and discuss them with a rotating

panel of the GCRN crew. So sit back and enjoy

this week's Pullback. Hello and welcome to the

pull bag this is episode 96 I am your host TFU

and Mike and joining me once again is Skeletor

himself Yes, so we have Adas Baron back again

because we're gonna delve back into DC Comics

He -Man and the Masters of the Universe We're

doing issues 7 through 12 this time How we're

gonna do this is we're gonna talk about 7 8 9

and one clip and then 10 11 and 12 and another

clip This is where the book changes drastically.

Both in art and in writing. Keith Geffen right

now probably is still my favorite master's writer

because he brings a lot of the comedy into it,

into the characters. It's taken me a while. to

get around to liking Dan Abnett's work and before

reading him on this series the only thing I think

I read of his was what did he do Punisher year

one or I don't know he he wrote some Punisher

book way back in the 80s or something or other

I don't remember so I was kind of new to him

and kind of like okay all right I'll see if I'm

gonna like this or not and honestly this is like

the middle story of like a three -part epic that

just isn't like it's really gushy in the middle

and not in a good way either i just i don't know

i both when i was reading this single issue because

i have the single issues here but when i was

reading them as they came out Think there's only

like two issues or three issues out of the six

that I really really enjoyed and that's kind

of bad I Can probably guess which ones they are

Try the last two no Nine ten and thirteen or

not thirteen nine nine ten and twelve It just

I don't know this it's This seems so disconnected

from what we've already read Yeah, that was probably

the only negative thing I could say because you

know I'm just starting to read this and I feel

a little lost connecting it to the prior six

issues But I actually had far more enjoyment

reading this than the the other six I mean you

made a good point where? The characterizations

were good in the other six Mm -hmm, but I felt

like I was taken on far more of a journey in

this what lies beneath Hmm There's a six issue

quest Where I was like, you know the other ones,

okay, here's the horde again and this and that

well it it seemed they they introduced a lot

of new things without having to reinvent a lot

of the aspects which is what the first six tended

to do Mm -hmm Yeah, I don't know. I just I just

can't wrap my head around crap that happens in

this Like the only thing I can wrap my head around

is the ending because it was kind of a natural

evolution And it's something we've always wanted

to see in cartoon. We never did though. Yeah

So we're gonna get to seven eight nine after

this Alright, first up is issue seven, written

by Dan Abnett, art by Raphael Kyanen? I don't

know. The cover is He -Man, Tila, excuse my voice.

He -Man, Tila, Stratos, and Man at Arms, a bold

new adventure. Isn't that Randoor? Oh yeah, it's

Randoor, sorry. And Mossman. Duh. Where's Moss?

Oh, yeah, he's in the back. I didn't see him.

So we open with Randor making a speech. And I

think the coolest thing about this arc for me

is the giant splash pages that has the title

on them and the battle pages. Other than Abnett,

Kath, Abnett, and... Kiana and Katherine lano

is on colors Daron Bennett is on letters the

cover is Yelidre Sinner and Randy Mayer I Like

the cover to this one. I think it's cool. It's

interesting I'm still not too keen on the he

-man having Iron Man armor like yeah stuff, but

But I can get over it at this point. I take more

issue with that damn Stratos costume than anything

He -Man's wearing. I know it. Stratos just does

not look right at all. It's like he's wearing

like a Kamen Rider, a Sentai outfit. Yeah, yeah.

True. I don't know. So we have this giant battle

between Randor and the others against the Horde

Troopers. The art style at least in this an issue

eight just does not appeal to me at all It I

don't know what it is it just it's too weird

like the only it feels It's very sketchy and

I mean, you know as it is, you know, I could

stand on its own But it feels like these are

kind of rough sketches that need to be finalized.

Mm -hmm And I was I was all right with it It's

nothing too distracting other than comparing

it to the art from the other issues. I think

the coolest part about this issue is how Grizzlor

looks and how the Horde Troopers look. That's

really cool. They got him right. So that's one

good thing. And he wasn't a bumbling oaf this

time. True. Well, for the most part, he's smart.

Yeah, for the most part. So we have randor who

apparently held the fifth division back and supposedly

gonna surprise the horde and apparently that

doesn't work and We see a bright light coming

up upon them and we see the return of he man

and Tila and Roboto And various other characters

He man it's he man where the hell is he been

see DC universe versus Masters universe issues

one through six So he man returns from his earthly

journey In the middle of a battle What do you

think of how they basically bridged in and out

for the crossover event. Because I think by the

end of the sixth issue of the ongoing, they were

transported off, attorney to go to Earth for

the crossover. What do you think of that juxtaposition

of them going and then being there and now they

pop right back into a battle? It seemed like

There were there was no point in doing that that

they're not connected. It seems in any way whatsoever

They might write I think they reference it once

but it has no change to the storylines ago here

We're gonna do the side mission come back and

nothing's really the same So he man and everybody

else comes back in the middle of the battle And

Grizzlor wants to be able to prove himself and

his fighting by fighting without using the orbital

disruptor. And we have this really nice shot

of this doomsday looking weapon in space over

Eternia. At least Eternia doesn't look like it

has a North and South America like it did in

the Filmation series. I mean... That's that's

one thing Now is this orbital disruptor just

that or is this kind of the the horde home base?

I Don't think it's the horde home base because

that's usually the fried zone and it seems like

hordak in his aging Yeah, hordak even says he

is in despondos. Okay, so he's not even he's

not even there So the orbital disruptor gets

fired and you know the battle where they were

fighting gets turned to ash and everything gets

destroyed and we get a um let's see here We get

he man Wait come back. What do those riddle?

Oh? He man during this whole thing gets a vision

He gets knocked out and he gets a vision from

from zodiac which I like that. They put him in

here I think it's cool because the only place

we've seen him in this entire series is in that

origin of hordak one -shot So I think it's kind

of cool that they did that and he kind of sets

them on their path of what lies within Um, you

know again, this is he only shows up in that

one shot I felt like maybe it would be more appropriate

if like the spirit of grayskull Came to him because

it kind of ties into all that at the end sort

of Yeah, that's true That's true. Oh, I still

kind of liked seeing him though. Yeah half a

second. It's okay I'm not the watcher, but I

am the watcher Just don't ask me to take my helmet

off God now as I can see is um Crap Giles and

Wesley going back and forth. You are on the Watchers

Council. I am NOT on the Watchers Council anymore.

Oh God Good ol' buffian angel And this issue

kind of ends with randor going on this mad quest

of he ends it with Saying we must bring the sorceress

back and he runs like we what? The art will be

are they the only ones that survived all of this

I? Assume yes them moss man. I think they killed

off man -at -arms and Or not not man -at -arms.

Yeah, no, but yeah, man -at -arms returned So

yeah, I think they killed everybody else like

all the attorney and subjects just the entire

planet. Oh I don't know as far as the Masters

go though. They're probably the only ones that

survived that thing Which is questionable how

they did that but um overall issue seven it was

an alright setup Yeah, um you know again. It's

alright. Nothing fantastic. Nothing incredibly

boring. I've been far more bored in the past

I still don't care for Abnett's writing, his

writing style and how he writes what the characters

say. And that will be something that will go

on throughout this entire arc, because there

are just certain things, the way that, like,

He -Man says something. It's that old timey talk

and it just - Yeah. It just doesn't gel with

what I know He -Man to be or what I perceive

He -Man to be. All right, so what lies within

part two issue number eight The cover is he man

with his mighty sword Who is that next that's

randor is that randor I don't know the gun the

axe. Yeah, that can't be written. He doesn't

have a beard on him I don't know. Maybe it's

just a flub on the car. He's got the crown No,

yeah, that's true. That's true So we got them

and we got the Horde troopers all around them.

I like the cover. It's it's alright I don't ever

remember He -Man's emblem glowing though with

the power. Yeah, it looks more like a bat signal

here Pretty much. Yeah, wear the widgets when

you really need them. Yeah Not a fan of the widgets

So we get randor And He -Man, they are about

to engage the horde. Starting off this issue,

we get a really, really cool, beautiful splash

page with part two and Battle Cat just tearing

into some horde troopers. Man, I would love to

have been there to see that. That is so awesome.

We need a good live action sequence with Battle

Cat just tearing stuff up. That's the one thing

that movie is missing, is Battle Cat. Now issue

8, actually throughout all of these issues, it

does say in the credits here that Dan Abnett

does the scripting and it's based on a story

by Rob David and Lloyd Goldfein. This issue specifically,

issue number 8, because I think it came out right

after the passing of one of the greatest men

on earth or Eternia. This issue is dedicated

to the memory and power of Lou Scheimer. So I

do like that they put that in there. Because

I do think this issue came out right after he

passed away. So there's that. Let's see. So they're

in this fight and they're fighting and fighting

and fighting. I mean there's... There's not much

dialogue here. It's mostly a third person storyteller

You know and and the battle Until this other

splash page where Stratos is flying overhead

and saying that there are more Outriders are

closing in upon us and then all of a sudden who

shall appear Swamp thing. I'm a moss man or however

they refer to him as His his bio name Yeah, I

feel like there were so many instances where

it felt forced that they had to mention what

their real names are Yeah, I mean, it's moss

man. Just keep them as that It just like if they

really had to put the bio names in here like

On orders from Mattel, that's just stupid. I'm

sorry. That's just dumb. Yeah, it could have

been one of those copyright things. Cause I know

they would, on the monthly figures, they would

sometimes put the character names on the boxes

just so they could have it. Still, it just, I

don't know, it kinda irks me. Yeah, it felt forced.

So moss man shows up and I still I will say this

throughout this entire podcast I still hate that

when he is he man, they still call him Adam I

love that there is no more secret, but Jesus

Christ The stupidest thing in the world Well,

I mean, you know when you have Superman with

the Justice League they half the time they refer

to him as Clark Not during battle Okay, well

they're fighting robots still So we get another

giant splash page with moss man saving their

asses and I Love the hard troopers here are the

living trees turn against us the thorns. I Just

love that. How can they feel pain if they're

robots? I know But I I seem to remember that

they're not like I don't know cuz if you look

at secret of the sword and obviously we have

many many times in the past almost 30 years of

this oh my god next year it'll be 30 years since

that movie came out holy shit I know we're old

You know if you look at secret of the sword Adam

or he man somehow got into a horde trooper uniform

So maybe there are humans in those who knows

maybe they're not just robots could be a mix

but you never know It's usually up to the writer

What are you feeling so far with this issue so

far to the splash page? I like the inclusion

of moss man it There's a lot of dynamic action.

The one where he first shows up and they scream,

aw, man. All I can think of is, what's his name,

Monster Mind? Mm -hmm. From Jason the Wheeled

Warriors. Oh, yeah. Just because of the viney

-ness and everything. Mm -hmm. That is crazy.

So we keep going. Randor tells them of his plan

to seek the starseed and to seek out the goddess

and The starseed that was from they introduced

that in the cartoon, right? I think so. I don't

remember Yeah, I was looking it up um, it's it's

supposedly the ultimate power of of Eternia so

That's just the way I look at it So randor keeps

going on and on about asking the goddess to bring

the sorceress back and Moss man is basically

trying to talk them out of it because it's a

fool's journey Yeah, because they're saying this

the Zor isn't as benevolent as you think and

it kind of fits her own Agenda only has the patience

for so much Yep So they get to Mount Zor and

we get to an opening with a bunch of writing

on it and We get your standard you know door

to the underworld kind of thing and we see that

apparently he man is the one that has the key

and we get the We get the weird version of asking

for the power I have the power of grayskull and

that power was given to me by... I know he's

not transforming from Adam to He -Man, but this

is just weird. And I want the old sword back,

god damn it. I hate this new sword. I mean, I

don't hate it so much. I'd prefer the old one.

Now that I look at it, you have the shot of him

looking from the back and he's holding it up.

The color is different, but it looks like the

swords that came with Castle Griscol, man. Mm

-hmm. Yeah, it probably is, which wouldn't surprise

me at all. So they enter into the Realm of Dreams.

So they're trying to enter Subternia, and Subternia

is made up of six realms, and the first realm

they enter is the Realm of Dreams. We end, uh...

We end this issue on, um... These dreams turning

out to be nightmares, and... Pretty much, yeah.

They - They - Teela and He -Man don't seem really

fazed at all by this. She's like, okay, I'm just

gonna hold this thing by the neck and He -Man,

you know, uh, here we go again. Yep. Um... This

first two these these first two issues in this

arc. I don't seven and eight I don't particularly

like the art style overall except when it comes

to moss man like he man and Tila They just look

off to me. Yeah, it has this weird John Romita

jr Look to it it but I think his has a tendency

to look a little more flat than this But his

is also a little more refined than this. Yeah

Any other thoughts on issue eight before i move

on i mean you know i i like where it's going

um i i think i'm appreciating the overall idea

of the story than all the little things so you

know i'm not paying too much attention to all

the fine details and by stepping back a little

bit i can enjoy it more Right, right. We get

to issue 9, which is the last one we'll talk

about in this portion of the podcast. And issue

9's cover is easily the best, one of the best

covers out of these six issues. What lies within

part 3 is a giant purple snake wrapped around

a golden rod. I thought that's a sword. Is that

the soul in the hill you can see this oh, yeah,

it is Raptor Okay, okay, it's Raptor on the sword

see if they had used the real sort of power I

would have recognized it a little bit more Because

this is not You know and I'm sure people listening

to this you're gonna say tf2 and Mike get off

your ass This isn't your childhood. They don't

use that sword anymore. It still doesn't matter.

I still prefer I will say that Michael S. O 'Hare

has taken over art and color duty for the next

two issues, I believe. He should have stayed

on. He really should have stayed on through the

rest of it because his characterizations and

his drawings and his colors of all of these characters

now, I love this art style. Absolutely amazing.

It's a very angular, cartoony look, but... I

mean, I can be picky when it comes to art styles,

but I do really like it. I mean, it reminds me

more of the 2002 cartoon than anything else,

and it just looks so... If you think about it,

they're in Subternia. Subternia is underground.

There's a lot of darkness underground. He manages

to make this a bright comic book, even though

they're underground. So, like I said, Michael

Esso here on Art and Colors. Abnet on the script.

The cover was done by Frazier Irving. I wish

he would do more covers, because damn, that was

an awesome cover. So we get this giant battle

in the dream world. And I wish that they would

say who is doing this internal monologue. Whether

it's, like, even if they say that it's Zodak

as the Watcher. Just want an explanation of who

is doing this monologue I Don't want to give

anything the ending away, but could we assume

it's that person considering it's kind of it's

written in scrolls and I Guess I guess I hope

not because I'm not too keen on the ending so

Just doesn't work for me and hey look Tila has

her own sort of protection. All right and a dagger

Well, yeah true So we get this battle scene in

the dream circle We get another big splash page

with randor and he man and Tila It looks like

they use the same image on two different pages.

Oh, it's just a different angle. He -Man and

Tila on the big splash page where the title is.

On the next page, it's He -Man and Tila again,

but it's at a different angle. That's weird.

At least the art is consistent. Absolutely. She

looks a hell of a lot better than what she did

the last two issues. They all do. Really. Even

Stratos looks somewhat decent, even though we

don't care for his... Yeah, just the way he's

giving him movement, it's very... Comes off as

very snake eyes. Especially the one where he's

got his hands whipped behind his back. Yep. Yep.

Absolutely. And Randor definitely benefits from

this artwork. Oh, he does so much. Luxury's beard!

Yes. He is the Burger King, after all. Armor

Burger King. Battle Armour Burger King. There

you go. No. No. I thought about it but then no.

So we get to a point in this where the war they

made across the circle of dreams lasted a full

day and night and then the nightmares began to

win and we have this giant like squid almost

Cerberus looking thing but the dog three three

whole way kind of reminds me of Jeff from men

in black one the giant worm in the sewer so this

thing swallows Stratos Mossman and Tila whole

and basically they disappear and He man cuts

open its belly and nothing. It's empty. So Something

has happened to them that cannot be explained

I feel like Robert stack should be doing some

sort of internal monologue here with yourself

mysteries music is like seriously It's like where

the hell did they go? So he was like she's dead

she's dead I'm going to kill you all he doesn't

say that but that's the look on his face Only

to find themselves in a desert wasteland. Yes,

which apparently this used to be the Circle of

Earth. So as the story has progressed, they found

out that the war that is ravaging on the surface

of Eternia with the Horde... has drastically

taken a horrible change on subternia with the

war and the violence and everything else that's

why the dream circle is now the nightmare circle

the earth's the circle earth is uh... is now

basically a desert wasteland so it's kinda like

uh... would you say it's like cause and effect

yeah much like what you do up there affects us

down here And you know, like, if you thought

the coloring and the artwork looked good in the

dark, once you get to this desert, this barren

wasteland where there's a lot of light, a lot

of little pink details are being shown now, and

it's splendiferous. Absolutely. The rock creatures,

ooh. Yeah. I love the beginning of this. It starts

in darkness. Ow. Ow. Also, ow. I just love Tila

in the series. She's just so amazing. So we get

this page here where Mossman is dying because

he has nothing to feed off of. He has no forest,

no nothing. And we see the Crimson Dynamo behind

Tila. Dude, I swear as soon as I saw it I had

to make that joke because holy crap Stratos looks

like one of Iron Man's armors at this point.

Well, I'm looking at it now and all I can think

of is um Like the white dino thunder ranger he

even has the the abo ranger logo on his stomach.

Yep Yep, absolutely. It's just just so weird

Um So we get uh, you know the these rock creatures

attack and then we cut back to the circle of

dreams where he man randor and battle cat are

fighting like they've never fought before uh

for like one page and then we get back to moss

man looks horrible no no i'm not saying horrible

isn't the art is bad i'm just saying like his

condition is rotting away dude looks like He

looks like to me is like if the crypt keeper

had was made of moss You know, it's basically

moss man could fill in for the crypt keeper He's

pretty lanky and gangly. Yes very much so So

throughout all this he's trying to tell her About

you know how unforgiving Zora is and and telling

of the first ones and of the uh... you know of

the snake people you know i don't think he actually

says snake people but he says of the first ones

and Serpos Serpos and makes reference to that

Stratos is like um Tila the rockmen they're here

they're beginning their assault we just want

to play you guys some rock and roll we get back

to he -man randor and battle cat and they find

another door And they go to open it the doors

the doors And Randor says it has become a nightmare

where the gates are sealed and we cannot escape

to be continued Issue 9 was awesome. I Loved

everything about it the cover the art. I wish

Michael Esso hair had done more than just Than

just issues 9 and 10 Because his style is so

awesome Any other thoughts on issue 9 sir by

the time you get to this third issue everything

seems to have been set up and we have structure

where this is supposed to go and You know the

beginning of it minus a few things all interweaves

with this where as in some of the other arcs

It's like I don't I don't know where this is

going or necessarily. What's the point? I mean

still this isn't well, we'll find out it does

tie into the horde but Where are they now? What's

the deal with this? Absolutely. All right, as

I said, we're gonna take a quick break and we're

gonna come back with issues 10 11 and 12 after

this Alright folks we are back and it is time

to talk about issues 10 11 and 12 of He -Man

and the Masters of the Universe from DC Comics

The cover for this one has a giant ship and all

of the forgotten characters are there along with

Stratos who again now he kind of looks like There's

a little too much purple there and that's kind

of bad coming for me since purple is my favorite

color but he i don't know he kind of looks like

a really really like a miniature version of a

sentinel at this point like just on the cover

i mean it just i don't know it's just weird so

it feels like they should be singing on the top

of this ship a pirate shanty and they should

go exactly So we get the more cool art from Michael

so hair these monsters are Phenomenal yeah, they

are Just amazing amazing creatures So they're

trying to get the door open trying to get the

door open and We have a really really cool battle

scene, and we have this striking thing from down

below Come to find out Tila and All the others

that have been missing Mossman fires this giant

weapon from this giant flying pirate ship, which

is steampunk air balloon thing Dude, it's the

pirate skyship from Megaforce No, this is not

the Gokai Galleon We'll rescind your comments

less likely. Okay, it's the US version. The sky

ship, that one. It's the bad one, I'll put it

that way. I thought they're the same thing. Oh,

I... You're gonna have to tell me I do not watch

stuff that is not in English, so... If it's not

in my native tongue, there's no way I'd watch

it. So what lies within part four... A script

by Abnett. Art and colors by Michael S. O 'Hare,

as always. Darren Bennett is on letters. The

cover is by Pop Mahan, which is kind of nice

to see him back. Interesting cover. It was like

none of the covers match up with the artwork

inside. No, they don't. Well, I mean... Issue

9 kind of does. I mean, it kind of does. with

how sleek it is, but yeah, no. I mean, that's

like asking, you know, if you read New 52 Batgirl,

you know, most of that arc that, most of the

good arc, the Gail Simone arc, not the new stuff,

is the covers are done by Alex Gardner. And the

inside art is done by Fernando Passer and other

artists. So, I mean, I've never expected covers

to match up to the inside art. I will say with

Michael S. O 'Hare that in this art specifically,

he is my favorite artist to this point. He's

so much better than the other ones that were

on issue seven and eight. So they rescue He -Man.

randor and and and uh not moss man god uh battle

cat um yeah stratos really does look like a power

rangers villain now he's manning the pirate ship

he looks like a power rangers pirate go kai change

like go kai go home well then moss man is back

to his old self again Yep, which is nice, which

I mean I kind of understood what happened and

I didn't understand what happened Like oh, we

just they carried me and we got out of there

and which it caused me to turn back to normal

end of story Well, it's like Like he has to live

off of the land and if the land is destroyed

he can't live Well, that's pretty much what I

got out of it. Yeah, really the only thing I

was confused. It seemed like he actually did

die and Uh, yeah, sure. Um, so we get, uh, you

know, them pulling everybody up, and Mossman,

at this point in the art, he kind of looks like,

um, Hulk, except with a beard. Yeah. His shoulders

are kind of, uh, you know, his shoulders and

his chest and all in his face are, like, around

his beard are kind of, like, really, really glossy

and shiny. And they left poor Battlecat. Soulless

people. And then Tila, like a mother hen, has

to call him. That just is wrong to me. I'm sorry.

I love Tila in this story, and I love Battlecat,

but Jesus Christ. That just looks so wrong that

she has to call him. So weird. Just do the Coelman

call. So they talk about how they got there,

and apparently there's a cheat as long as you're

flying in the sky circle, or the circle of the

sky, or the sky realm of Subternia. You can cheat

and go to the other realms without having to

find doors. So that's kind of nice. It's a cheat,

but it's nice. This is where the turn kind of

happens. It's like this is where a really really

bad wrestling turn really happens We get them

flying over everything and We get to a point

where there's gonna be a storm and They're like

we need to change course Because we don't want

to go into the storm, but randor of all people

steers them into the storm They end up crashing.

Where is my father? Where is King Randor? We

kind of end this issue on the whole search. We

see the snake men, which is kind of cool, because

where Randor has dropped them is the circle of

death. So apparently you have to go to the circle

of death before you can live forever. And we

see the snake men. What do you think of the snake

men design? Oh, they're bitchin'. Very angular,

very NYP -esque. Absolutely. And it is revealed

that there is no randor, there is only hiss.

And apparently, King Hiss has been in the husk

of Randor's body for god knows how long. I don't

like this turn. I really, really don't. No, I

loved it! I don't know, I think it's more for

me that the reason why I don't like it is because

I'm so used to, and I know this isn't going to

happen here because Skeletor was still on Earth

and everything else, but I'm so used to, you

know, the NYP cartoon where it's Skeletor versus

Hiss and, you know, the evil warriors versus

the snake men and... I don't know, I just think

this is like... Because he even says, you don't

know how I could have been here a month ago,

I could have been here since you were born, blah

blah. It's like... We never really know when

his took over Randor's body and I kind of wanted

an explanation on that one Well, I think that's

only there just so he could you know screw with

Adams mind And I wouldn't be surprised if down

the line like oh we're gonna go on this quest

to find Randor and save him and he'll be back

Who knows Overall thoughts on issue 10. I like

the change there the turn and some of the setup

scenes where right before they send him into

the the storm there's kind of a foreshadowing

with Randor's Randor's face and you know his

eyes are shut and there's just shadows around

him you could tell something's up yeah I don't

know it's just too weird for me like it's just

too strange for me issue number 11 has He -Man

in the coils of King His, He -Man, Tila Basically,

yeah pretty much human and Tila cuz I don't see

moss man anywhere neither do I So we open this

one up and we get Change of art again. Yep. I'll

go over that in a minute So we get we get his

explaining, you know the whole thing of messing

with Adam's mind as you said as far as that goes

Um, again, the one cool thing about this entire

arc is these giant splash pages that happen like,

you know, one page into the book and, you know,

we have what lies within part five. Abnett is

on script. Tom Derenick is on art. Tony Avenia

is on colors. Um, I, I like the art, but it's

not as good as Michael Esso hair. Yeah, the previous

artwork was definitely more original. However,

if you're a Snake Man fan, this artwork really

highlights everything that's cool about these

Snake Men. Yeah. I mean, it does. I like Michael

Esso hair's colors more, I think, because they

were a bright, poppy kind of thing without being...

Well, without them having to be... When I think

of bright popping colors, I think of you know

crap that I don't like like the Zeta project

was just too damn bright you know Stuff like

that And I don't I don't need this book to be

super dark. Like I said with issues 10 and 11.

I loved how bright and fulfilling and you know

Defining Michael Esso hairs art is I actually

want to go and find other stuff that he's done

after reading these two previous issues. Because

I think he's just an amazing artist. So basically

we start a war between King Hiss and the Masters.

It's interesting. The Mossman reveals that they're

at the Circle of Death. And we've got mostly

battle scenes here. I mean there are some Some

you know vocals and stuff like that You know

I think King hit randor his design looks kind

of cool on the page where he says Some power

you fool Stratos. There is only one power only

one that matters the fire of creation the star

See, I think he looks really cool right there

But the rest of it is just kind of not my thing

at this point with the art The more shots you

get of Hiss, it seems like they crammed a lot

of the defining gimmicks for all the other snake

men toys into this. Because, you know, he's got

the glowing eyes and he's got the snakes coming

out of his mouth, like, um... Oh, God. The Medusa

one. Oh, God, I don't even... I haven't been

keeping track of Master's classics. And then

he's got the really long arms. in some shots

like Squeeze. The dynamic shots of all these

snake abilities that this character can do are

awesome. They are. They are. I'll admit that.

And it kind of weirded me out when he was having

the snake eat the staff. I wasn't really sure

what the hell that was all about, but it was

kind of cool. So we get to the ultimate battle

and we get more not necessarily exposition, but

we get his basically Revealing his plot like

a super villain should and he basically says

and using you I will unlock the infinite power

of the star seed and Revive my people so that's

his whole plan He's going to revive his people

get rid of the humans and rule Eternia as he

once did I'll admit the the splash page after

this is really cool in the art. That looks amazing

where he man's about to hit him Really like that

But I mean once his plans revealed it's kind

of like okay Well, there's there's that one kind

of creepy panel where he's cast off all of Randor's

skin and in the corner There's just the the face

Yeah, that is pretty creepy Pretty creepy indeed

So we get to the point of where we see the door

to eternity and it opens up and we see this vast

world and that is going to await them and We

enter through it using he man. I really do like

the colors in this I think the problem I have

with this kind of almost close to the end page

here, this giant splash page of them in the fires

of the eternity dimension, the speech bubbles

of Hiss, they're... Hard to read because they're

in red. They're gray and red. Like if they would

have reversed those and had the red be the background

and the gray be, that might be a little easier,

at least for me personally, to read. Yeah, especially

if you have a lot of orange and reds and... Yellows

around it. It's distracting You know this whole

time everybody's like ready to give up and Tila

isn't Basically like I know we're damn, but I'm

just gonna find anyway because that's what I

do Yeah Issue 11 it was all right. I'm still

not happy with the turn. I just I Think it's

a really weird way to bring King Hiss into a

story It's interesting, but it's He -Man has

had enough go on with his family life. I mean,

you know, he's lost his mother Come to find out

she's on earth, you know, but now Who knows when

how long his has been posing as his father. I

just don't like that aspect of it That's really

what I don't like more. So than I don't like

the turn I mean, you know with this new iteration

of Masters, I'm expecting changes and things

to go off world Bible and You know some of it

is generic and I I happen to like this I was

kind of like, okay, you know snake men are all

right, but after reading these issues I I kind

of want more of these two ways All right, and

finally up today is issue number 12 And Tila,

man, showing a lot of side boobage right there.

Damn! I remember a lot of people bitching about

this cover when it was revealed in solicitations

because of how pretty much half naked her upper

body looks. Isn't she always usually? These are

the past couple of issues where she hasn't been.

Yeah, yeah. And it's her as the Sorceress of

Serpos, we'll get to that in a little bit, but

Sorceress of Serpos and she is trying to free

He -Man Stratos and Moss Man from the clutches

of King Hiss. I like the cover, I think it's

cool. I think we have a hell of a lot more cooler

covers coming when we get to the next arc. so

we open this one where he man has been used to

get into the dimension of eternity and a really

like I'm really happy now that Like I like King

his now that he's in his full mode and not just

in rend or shell. He's pretty badass looking

I'll give him that yeah, he is very badass look

he is strutting the entire way down that corridor

Yeah, you've got the same people on script art

and colors that I mentioned earlier You've got

Ryan Sook did the cover for this issue So that's

that's interesting And you know his is gonna

use he man and he man's like no you're not going

to use me and You know the sword I will have

the sword you will all pay with your souls and

he's starting to fight back I like the art more

in this one than I did the last issue. It's kind

of growing on me a little bit. There's some parts

about that do seem different, especially He -Man

in the face. He looks a little more... ugly.

You said it, not me. There's that one shot where

Hiss strikes him in the back and his armor comes

off and the skin on his back is boiling over

and everything. There's something about that

that reminds me a lot of the bruises you saw

in the Death of Superman issue. Right. Yeah,

I can see that. I mean, there's always been a

lot of huge amalgams between Superman and He

-Man, which is interesting. Well, it's more so

just not the character himself, just the detail

on him. Right, right. So we see a fully clothed

and armored up Tila. They're going to throw Adam

into the star seed. Call him He -Man, god damn

it. Please start calling him He -Man. Well, I

almost feel as if the rest of the planet already

knows it's Adam. It just... I don't know. So

Tila has Stratos take her to his... And we have

a huge battle between the two of them. Wow, Stratos

almost looks like poor Prowl from 86 with the

fire in his eyes. So, we have the fire, we have

the sword, we have Mossman and Battlecat and

Stratos yelling for Tila, and she's been thrown

into the fire, and we end up with a really, really

nice cameo, don't we? We do! We have the sorceress,

Tila's mother. She looks great here. Yeah, I...

She was drawn really nice! Mm -hmm not in any

sort of Type of way, but right now She's more

clothed than within what Tila will become but

I mean she looks great She just really really

does the design is spot -on. Nothing has been

changed No, it's it's full -on formation Really

really is and Unlike the Maddie collector toy

her wings don't look like they separate. Yeah

With something weird on her back. I don't know

I can almost make out the drums on her shoulder.

Oh stop Don't even just just don't even So the

sorceress tells Tila about her new place in life

and and we get back to his and he man and He

man says I don't know but I think the tide is

turning get up and face me. Let's finish this

What was it exactly that one could say the energy

was zapping his powers, but you go from right

before Teela is thrown into the fire, he seems

to be winning, and then you cut back to it and

his is on his knees and he's got the sword at

him. I don't know. Maybe it's the power of greyskull.

Yeah, maybe it's the power of the goddess. I

think that's really what it is It's the power

of the goddess. It might be the fire And the

new goddess appears. I am the sorceress now.

I am the sorceress of surplus I have the power

and all this power comes blasting out at her

and and She basically Tells the snake man that

they better bow to her or else and everyone does

except for King hiss Let's see here we've got

You know we've got Stratos and moss man and Adam

basically saying Tila you were transformed the

goddess has answered our prayers attorney has

a sorceress again Yes, what his gets punched

into space Yep. I'll be back, Superman! King

Hiss blasting off again! That's all I can think

of is when people get punched off into something

and they go flying off into nothing as Team Rocket.

And we kind of end on Snake Mountain, which I

think this is the first time in the entire series

that we've seen Snake Mountain. You might be

right, outside of the... the first six -issue

mini -series. Yeah, yeah. I mean, we only see

it, like, in a far -away shot, but it looks great.

So we get this page here where Tila says, but

first, the attorney needs a king. What? Race

Skull knew this day would come. Yeah, but nobody

wants this. Or at least in that damn costume.

Dorky. Nobody wants this, especially not Adam.

So Adam is going to become King He -Man, and...

He doesn't want to. Meanwhile, out in the forest...

Well, we didn't address the one thing here, that

we see Stratos without his helmet, and I think

this is one of the first times we see him without

goggles or anything. Oh yeah, that's right. He

looks like old Logan. Yeah, he does. He looks

alright. Mean he looks kind of cool, but he really

does look like old Logan in a bad Cyclops suit

Yeah, he actually looks a lot better in this

outfit without the helmet. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely

So we get to a meanwhile page Out in the woods

we have a cloaked figure who looks like she looks

like she's wearing a Like a black version of

Shadow Weaver's costume. Well, you notice the

the scroll not word bubbles, but they're kind

of transparent compared to the rest of them.

Oh, actually, no. No, in other parts of the issue,

they're the same thing. So we see her walking,

and we see an old woman, lady, spare me a drink,

and the lady is clearly wearing green, and we

have this blonde woman who is Dispara. So that

story line's about to come back. And it turns

out that the old woman is Hiss. I... I think

I'm done with King Hiss, honestly. I'm glad that

the... The next arc, The Origin of She -Ra, Prelude

to the Blood of Grayskull. Thankfully that has

nothing to do with King Hiss whatsoever. I just...

Like, if they want to bring in like, Tongue -Lash

-Or, or Ratlore, or even Cobra Khan, fine. But

King Hiss himself, I'm over it at this point.

Well, I think they've already bowed down to Green

Goddess's might. Yeah, true. That's true. What

did you think of Adora or Daspara showing up

at the end of issue 12? Well, I didn't realize

it was her until they said the name and she pulled

the hood back because I was thinking maybe it

was like, oh, this could be like a good version

of Shadow Weaver or something like that. Yeah.

But it teases things to come. Yeah, and I absolutely

I thought it was really cool. I I have to say

so far This arc isn't my favorite It's not bad,

but it's I don't I just Kind of wore on me and

I I think it took me all of this art to get used

to Abnett's writing Like, I wasn't used to it

three issues in. I wasn't used to it four issues

in. Like, by issue six, I'm ready. Okay. I'm,

you know, on board. And especially when we cover

the next arc, issues 13 to 20, or 13 to 19, or

whatever it's gonna be, because as of this recording,

issue 20, or actually, issues 19 and 20 have

not come out yet. So... You know we do know that

eternity war is coming i actually talked to the

editor of it on twitter and he said that it is

going to be an ongoing. It is it's basically

all is it's doing is it's going to be this same

book. Except it's changing the name okay so the

reason again. They're basically re branding the

book instead of canceling the book and then starting

something. you know entirely new but uh he said

it's gonna be really really interesting so i'm

slightly excited for eternity war i don't know

um i do know that i'm really excited for the

blood of grayskull storyline i have been reading

that as it has come out and it's just amazing

in every way at least for me it is um overall

in a Scale of zero to five stars. What would

you give the what lies within story? I'd say

a four. I mean after the first six issues were

you know, I felt we're okay the Masters versus

DC kind of pulled me out of it all let just left

a bad taste in my mouth This is kind of pulled

me that back end Uh -huh. For me, I'm gonna give

it a 3. It really took a lot for me to get used

to the constant art changes. Like, if they had

started and ended with Michael S. O 'Hare, I

would have been happy for the art the entire

time. And I know artists always can't be on one

book all the time like that, but I just wish

that the art was more consistent. So yeah, for

me, overall, it's a 3, because I still don't

like the whole King His thing. It just... It's

too weird. Well, has he appeared later on at

all yet, or no? No, not yet. Okay, well, you

know, we'll see what happens, but I think if

they just kept him within the confines of this,

things would be fine. Yeah. So, that's gonna

do it for us, I think. Where can the people interact

with you online, sir? Well, the good people can

find me on Facebook, which I seem to be on more

often than anything else. So you search A .Sparren,

A, period. dos baron uh twitter at ados baron

and if you want a little insight into my other

hobbies which would be the voice acting and other

media related projects you can always head over

to adosbaron .com awesome all right you can find

me tfg and mike on twitter uh you can also follow

at geekcast radio for all your network updates

uh... coming up next inside the pool bag so as

you folks might have known this is the first

week of november last year i kicked off my first

annual punisher month sadly as i've stated in

a couple episodes before this that uh... punish

a month is not going to be happening this year

uh... we're actually move it to april of twenty

fifteen it will be happening is will be happening

in twenty fourteen but um... coming up for the

rest of november we've got uh... to back issue

classics episodes One is covering Cowell Volume

1 Principles of Power from Image Comics and Kyle

Higgins. The other is going to be covering another

Image Comics series, Sex Criminals Volume 1.

So that's what's going on there for the rest

of November. uh... and then december we've got

a bunch of cool stuff coming up uh... really

really interesting uh... i think jeremy fine

and i are going to be doing more avengers and

x -men coverage with access issues two through

nine and access revolutions one through four

uh... i am going to try to be doing on the fourth

week of december a top twenty favorite comics

of twenty fourteen i don't know if this is going

to be single issues if it's going to be trades

if it's going to include both i don't know uh...

so if anyone has any suggestions shoot me an

email tfgwmike at gmail dot com you can send

email to feedback at geocastradio dot com make

your greatest gave the comics and we will catch

you next time it's action it's drama it's comedy

it's dacian the superhero webcomic dacian's got

superhero antics and sexy girls read it now at

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