The debut issue of the Masters of the Universe: Revolution miniseries from Dark Horse Comics serves a dual purpose. It’s meant to be a companion to the Netflix animated series of the same name, which is welcome because Revolution and its predecessor, Masters of the Universe: Revelation, serve as prime example of how to do a continuation of a beloved series. (Seriously – they’re up there with X-Men ’97.) It also serves as a prequel of sorts to Revelation, specifically the story of how Skeletor came to be.
It helps that Revolution #1 has a trio of creators who actually worked on the series: Tim Sheridan, Rob David and Ted Biaselli. Biaselli and David both served as executiove producers on Revolution, while Sheridan was on the writing staff and penned the script for Revolution #1. The end result is a comic that builds upon elements that were introduced in Revolution – particularly the origins of magic and how Skeletor (or Keldor, as he was known back then) joined forces with Hordak and the Horde. Sheridan does a great job of expanding upon events you see in Revolution, without feeling like he’s just recapping the series – he also has a great handle on Hordak, painting the Horde’s leader as an outright menacing figure who like all tyrants seeks to cement his power and ultimately sows the seeds for his own downfall.
Daniel HDR and Keith Champagne handle art duties; HDR’s artwork hews fairly close to the visual style of Revelation, including the fight sequences. One of the opening pages depicting a battle between the ancient gods Zoar and Ka is rendered in magnificent detail. The clash between the two spills out from panel to panel as their battle literally gives birth to Eternia. Another page features the forces of the Horde descending on Eternia, and spotlighting the variety of villainy on display. One soldier is a humanoid spider; another a snake man with serpentine arms that twist and coil around his victims.
All of this is given vibrant, eye-catching color via Brad Simpson. Simpson has a knack for melding various hues together and presenting some borderline cinematic elements in the process. A great example is the Zoar/Ka fight; Zoar is a heavenly mix of blue, white and orange while Ka is a sickly green, cementing them as polar opposites. Later scenes feature Hordak descending into a dark cave, his chalk-white skin being the only thing that stands out.
Masters of the Universe: Revolution #1 is a solid expansion of the animated series’s story, with visuals to match. The only thing that would make it stand out even more is if Keith David returned to provide Hordak’s voice.
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