When I was younger, I was a pretty big fan of He-Man. While I didn't have any of the action figures, I thought the revolving cast of characters was pretty awesome, and the fact that it fused some fantasy with odd bits of technology blew my young mind.

So, of course, when I found out that DC was putting out a He-Man book with veteran writer James Robinson at the helm, I couldn't help but be just a bit curious. Could this be a book that transcends its hokey beginnings in order to become a book with decent narrative, gripping plot and imaginative characters?

In short, it's not.

To be honest, I was a little bit bored by this issue. Framed as either an origin or some kind of bizarre amnesia plot, it aims to explain (not-quite) Prince Adam's beginnings before he dons the fur briefs and the big sword. However, since it's never explained what's actually going on, I felt myself a little bit lost: the familiarity that other characters have with him (without the opposite being true) leads me to believe that Adam isn't the woodcutter we see him to be, but there's nothing telling us otherwise.

Normally, this is cool, as I don't need everything spelled out for me, plain as day. However, in this book I just had trouble caring about someone whose origin is relatively simple: find sword, get huge, kick evil butt. Trying to stretch a new origin out over multiple issues is just going to make readers tap their toes and wonder what the point of it all is, and when the story is actually going to get going.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #1
DC Comics
$2.99

The Verdict: Two "I have the power!"'s out of five for being a little on the boring side without any explanation to keep me hooked. If there was at least a hint of what was going on (nefarious plot or otherwise) I'd be inclined to pick up the next issue, but as it stands, I'm not.

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