“Yesterday’s” Comic> Prime #5

Prime doesn’t like when you knock-off He-Man.

Prime #5

Malibu Comics/Ultraverse (October, 1993)

“Villains”

WRITERS: Len Strazewski & Gerald Jones

ARTIST: Norm Breyfogle

COLORIST: Keith Conroy

LETTERER: Tim Eldred

EDITOR: Chris Ulm

The comic also included previews for Rune, further convincing me not to read it, and The Night Man, which I’m rather curious about as I used to watch the live-action show and his appearance on Ultraforce. Yes, I will discuss the cartoon at some point. I want to debut everyone in comic form first.

With the demon using copyright-skirting He-Man clone Maxi-Man as his form, Kevin is forced to initiate an early change into Prime, which leaves him a bit weaker but enough to challenge the demon and protect Kelly (whom he accidentally calls his girlfriend, which isn’t the case in either identity). Meanwhile, Kevin’s dad reaches a Colonel Samuels, who was part of the program that allowed Russell and his wife, Ruth, to have Kevin in the first place, agrees to help with Kevin…more or less. After Prime defeats the demon, who is upset to learn he grabbed his form from children’s entertainment (why, dude, it seemed to be working for you until Prime showed up), his body starts to break down from the battle and Kevin not having fully recovered from the last usage. Samuels takes Prime away, to the confusion of Kelly and the annoyance of Russell. What Samuels really wants is Prime’s ultrahuman body regardless of what the process will do to Kevin.

What they got right: Most of this comic is one big battle, and for a 1990s comic it’s not a bad one. We’re getting closer to the mystery of how Kevin got the power to create Prime, and as out of place as one of Mantra’s villains is in this comic, he at least made for a good threat.

What they got wrong: That “girlfriend” bit isn’t going to end well, is it? If the being adopting Maxi-Man’s form has no body of its own in the natural plane or however it works in Mantra’s lore, why does his ripped off arm have a huge bone in it? Remember, this came from a 1980s kids cartoon He-Man knockoff.

What I think overall: While I would like for this reading list I’m using to get past Prime, at least the comic is still interesting, but it would be nice to know what the heck is going on with Kevin and this experiment everybody is talking about and after. The scientist and the colonel both want this power and the heck with the kid, so it’s a bit tough to find the heroes outside of Prime right about now, and he’s in trouble.