A duel between two of the most powerful men in the universe? This is getting good!
Injustice vs Masters of The Universe #1
Writer: Tim Seeley
Art: Freddie E. Williams II
Colors: Jeremy Colwell
Letters: Wes Abbott
Liz Erickson: Assistant Editor
Editor: Kristy Quinn
Group Editor: Jim Chadwick
Publisher: DC Comics
What You Need to Know:
Injustice vs Masters of The Universe is a 6-part crossover series featuring characters from He-Man and The Masters of The Universe, and DC characters from the Injustice video games. It is also the sequel to the previous crossover series He-Man/Thundercats released from October 2016 to March 2-17. This is the third crossover between the DC and He-Man characters, after DC Comics Presents #47 from 1982, and DC Universe vs Masters of The Universe in 2013.
What You’ll Find Out:
The crossover follows one of the endings from Injustice 2, where Superman, victorious in defeating Braniac, becomes the tyrant ruler of Earth and across the multiverse. The few remaining members of The Insurgency, which opposes Superman, learn of the hero named He-Man, whose own powers rival even the Man of Steel’s. The Insurgency heads for Eternia to recruit He-Man to their cause. But Superman may have already learned of He-Man’s existence…..
What Just Happened:
Truth be told, I was living under a rock when they mentioned of a Superman vs He-Man story, and this third encounter is entirely new to me, I had to go to my nearest comic book/coffee shop and grab a copy, just for that idea alone. And boy was I totally blown away. It’s weird that a simple idea is enough to get people like myself to flock into buying this comic, but hey, if it works, it works (remember how Marvel simply changed Spider-Man’s suit to being black and sales went to the roof?).
What’s surprising is how easy was it for me to get into the story and its characters, even though I never played any of the Injustice video games, or read the He-Man comics as I only know it from the Filmation animated series from the 80’s. Much of what you need to know with Injustice and He-Man is explained in a span of a few pages. I hear that He-Man’s phrase of being “the strongest man in the universe” is no rhetoric and he means what he says in the comics. And Skeletor is said to be even more of a bad-ass his only reason for losing is because he’s the antagonist. I took word for these things and when reading this comic, the way He-Man and Skeletor are presented somehow echoes what people are saying about these two characters. For the nerd in me, I am just as fanboy-ing over the abundant cast of characters that side with either Superman or He-Man.
I have to give kudos to writer Tim Seeley, because even though this issue runs at the standard 22 pages, the narrative moves at a very comfortable pace it’s like viewing an 8-11 minute short film. The duo of Freddie Williams and Jeremy Colwell made the visual so appealing it fits the characters. When He-Man raises his sword and shouts his signature “by the Power of Grayskull!” in one panel with his allies right behind him, you can easily imagine the classic He-Man theme song playing in the background, and is a light and hopeful scene to see amidst the grittiness of the rest of comics thanks to Superman.
Rating: 9/10
Final Thoughts:
This crossover is off to a very good start on the eventual showdown between Superman and He-Man, thanks to the team behind it for taking us into the beginning of a crazy and exciting ride. It’s a wonderful continuation of the He-Man/Thundercats crossover, and the Injustice games. Even if you never heard of these two brands, you can easily jump right in and still be blown away.
