There are times I worry I’m giving a bad idea. This is one of those times.
Oh don’t think he won’t do it either. And I’m not making fun of his bald head there. It’s a sunny day out. It’s purely an art decision ruined by a rush job.
This is the part when I tell you what’s coming up this week, but honestly I don’t know outside of the continuing Chapter By Chapter look at Tom Clancy’s Op-Center and getting caught up with the Finally Watched reviewfest (but not my full list of movies I want to see) and the completion of my Transformers comics library reviews outside of UK trades better saved for Scanning My Collection. It could be a commentary, it could be a review, it could be a fun video I want to show you. I guess we’ll find out together. I know, not a good update but I do plan on doing something this week. That’s technically an update. Right?
He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe started well into the lives of Prince Adam and friends. He had been He-Man for some time and had fought threats besides Skeletor’s bunch even before we met him. What few origins and backstories we got about the characters were told in flashback and there weren’t that many. At the time it didn’t matter because origins can be boring when you want to get right into the evil fighting. Nowadays as an adult I wish we had gotten an origin for He-Man, but we get one for Orko and separately Marlena coming to Eternia, how Cringer became Battlecat, how Man-At-Arms adopted Teela, and for tonight’s Showcase how the Sorceress became protector of Grayskull.
When an old threat returns to Eternia, the first one the Sorceress ever fought, she tells the story of Teela-Na, a simple village girl fated to become the keeper of Grayskull and guardian of the Swords Of Power and Protection. Tonight we’re told that tale.
In the world of DC Comics three superheroes are usually treated as the standards, known as the Trilogy. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are some of the earliest superheroes for then National Comics to have survived to this day. And yet, while Superman and Batman have had numerous live-action and animated TV series and movies, Wonder Woman has been relegated to one TV series, one animated movie, and a bunch of failed pilots, only one of which was good on its own merits. Cathy Lee Crosby is no Linda Carter but the movie itself is good.
Meanwhile you have the DC Extended Universe, Warner Brothers’ attempt to create their own version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but by ignoring the comic roots while Marvel Studios embraced them. It ended up that the Marvel movies felt more like the DC Universe than the actual DC movies did, and that’s still holding true in most DC media today, including the comics as Dan DiDio tries to return the comics to the New 52 style of storytelling, the opposite of what made the DC Universe last so long…but I’m getting off track. The DCEU movies have done so badly that Warner Brothers seems to be about to scrap the idea and just complete the movies in production, although Wonder Woman was successful enough that it’s getting a sequel.
We can go over the failings of the DCEU some other time. What made Wonder Woman stand out? Was it the fact that the director was a woman, like we’re being told, did they just make a good movie that people actually praised, and how did it fare as an adaptation versus Spider-Man: Homecoming? Let’s find out.
RELEASE DATE: 2017
RELEASED BY: Warner Brothers
RUNTIME: 2 hours, 21 minutes
STARRING: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Danny Hutson, David Thewlis, Elana Anaya, and Lucy Davis
Those of you not connected to comic aren’t aware of Carol Danvers and how she’s only the latest in Marvel Comics’ continued mission to keep DC from giving Billy Batson the superhero name he was created with, Captain Marvel. Seriously, that’s why Marvel keeps doing this. And with Carol hitting theaters one blogger has decided to talk about another woman to take the name while Carol was still going under one of her other many superhero names over the years. Meet Monica Rambeau, the first black female Avenger, who once actually led the team. Not mentioned in the article is she didn’t just lead the Avengers but a lesser-known superteam called Nextwave. Why don’t we hear more from her?
And if you want to go over the full legacy of Marvel’s failed attempts to make something with the name that sticks, I wrote an article on it back when Carol first became Captain Marvel in the comics. Apparently after this Monica earned yet another new superhero name, which puts her in the running with Carol and Hank Pym for most superhero identities in the Marvel Universe. Spider-Man tried out for that once as well. Why can’t Marvel pick a name and stick with it?
Welcome to the penultimate edition of the He-Man newspaper comic strip reviews. We only have two stories left. Then you’ll still have the mini-comics, the occasional Saturday Night Showcase, and a future project (if I ever get to it) to get a He-Man fix around here. I’m never really done talking about my childhood favorites.
In our last installment Skeletor sent He-Man into Alice In Wonderland because we have to get that obligation into the franchise somehow. During the adventures old bonehead took on the form of the Jabberwock and managed to take down the Sorceress as Alice. That and his taunts plague our heroine in this story, just as a new threat plans to do some serious damage.
“Shaken To The Core”
WRITER: Chris Weber | ARTIST/LETTERER: Gerald Forton | COLORIST: Connie Schurr | EDITOR: Karen Wilson
