James Robinson is Writing a He-Man Comic for DC

Most of my fellow staffers grew up decades before me, playing with Erector Sets, licensed Gunsmoke cap pistols and, I dunno, those wheeled ducks you pull along on a string. So I suppose it’s up to this child of the 80s to report on DC Comics’ newly announced He-Man and the Masters of the Universe joint.

James Robinson is set to write the six-issue mini, an ambitious new spin on the oft re-imagined property. Following a pivotal conflict, the nefarious Skeletor sits atop a throne of lies as the lord of all Eternia. Young Adam is but a humble woodsman with strange dreams of a brighter, grander alternative. But could this be more than mere fantasy? Was Adam once the true sovereign of Grayskull? Can he regain that power and rally the forgotten Masters of the Universe to right this cosmic imbalance?

He-Man has seen his share of rebirths in animation and plasticine, but this has all the makings of a serious comeback. With a name like Robinson’s on the title, DC means business.

Here’s hoping issue #1 gets a James Stokoe Stinkor variant cover that, like the action figure, smells like a skunk attack when scratched.

The mini is a few months away, so let’s take this time to remember the magic. Remember the power.

 

 

Luckily, we don’t have to wait an Enternia. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #1 (of 6) debuts in July, written by James Robinson with Cringer-worthy pencils from Phillip Tan and inks by Ruy Jose.

 

Comments

  1. Wrkngclasshero (@joinedtofollow) says:

    Wonder how scratch and sniff would work on my iPad.

  2. No thanks

    • Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

      Thanks for the RSVP. It’s really important we get an accurate head count.

    • Good one.

    • James robinson on he man doesnt get me excited sorry .

    • It’s okay not to be excited. That doesn’t make Paul’s comment any less funny.

      I probably won’t get excited until Frank Miller finally starts writing his Wheeled Duck on a String masterpiece.

    • Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

      I don’t take offense to your not being excited. I’m asking, “Why bother commenting on something you don’t care about?” Feel free to make an argument as to the book’s merits or lack thereof, but why do people find it necessary to log on simply to say, “I don’t care”? It’s troubling.

    • @Paul: Well said. I wonder if commenting is too easy?

      I don’t know if adding an anti-spam Captcha box is an effective way to improve the discourse, but I’d have to imagine it would be annoying enough to prevent most non-productive comments.

      Or maybe some kind of up/down voting system? That way, the quality comments could rise to the top of a thread. I bet it could even be rigged so that if a comment has enough down votes, it just gets deleted.

      I realize these ideas add complexity, and have a tinge of elitism and censorship, but it does seem like non-productive commenting (and trolling, to a lesser extent) is on the rise around here.

    • Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

      @Ken I don’t think we’d ever want to do anything to the comment function that doesn’t make it easier or more enjoyable. The only challenge left to readers is that retroactively editing posts isn’t an option. That means you have to be your own editor, which hopefully means commenters are more cautious in choosing their words. As we should be anyway. If it ever seems rigid it’s only because the iFanbase represents some of the best discourse on comics to be found online and we’re pretty dedicated to keeping it that way.

    • The reason im not excited is because I haven’t been a fan of Robinson writing since he return to comics. And while I loved Phillip tan on spawn and spawn the dark ages his DC work doesnt do it for me personally. I ment no disrespect to you or the page Paul. So from now on ill just comment on things I like. I thought articles where put up for us to comment on. But if you feel me writing no thanks was disrespect I apologize.

    • I think a comment like “I don’t care” can be read as: “What this book seems to offer does not arouse my interest. I don’t want to read it.” To me that seems to be a respectable statement.

    • @nastysnow: Look at your first comment and then look at your third comment. One of the two is much more valuable to a discussion than the other. Something to keep in mind.

    • Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

      What Conor said. That’s all I was saying. I do apologize for the harshness of my initial reply though. It’s just a pet peeve.

    • @Conor: With all due respect, I think a board like this (which I like very much for its general atmosphere) should also be able to tolerate posts which don’t seem very “valuable”. In my opinion, it must be possible to write a quick line like “no thanks” without being patronized in such a fashion.

    • @Rhymer – Read rule number 1, written long ago. https://ifanboy.com/terms-of-service/

    • @Josh: Yes, I wasn’t aware of this rule. So, with that in mind you guys are certainly entitled to comments like this, of course. Though I personally wouldn’t be against you guys taking it easy in a case like this. (To say “No thanks” doesn’t seem “trolling” to me, but that might be a result of my lack of unterstanding of the English language).

    • Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

      I apologized for my remark. Let’s just keep that policy in mind going forward, yes? Substantive discussion is all we’re saying.

    • I again want to apologize I realy didnt think this woul cause a whols tread. I fook no offense to your comment Paul so again im sorry

  3. Oh ya! i’m so in for this! I had that smelly stinkor action figure growing up to! hell, i had them all!
    I hope this becomes an ongoing.

    also, Orko FTW!

  4. This child of the 80’s is definitely stoked though 6 issues seems a little short for James’ particular style of world building.

  5. You had me at “Stinkor variant”.

    I should also note that we played with plastic green army men in those days. And magnifying glasses.

  6. I miss those old cartoon intros, where you learn everything you need to know going in during the course of the theme song. He-Man definitely did it the best.

  7. Please excuse me while I “hold aloft my magic sword”

  8. I’m quite intrigued by James Robinson penning He-Man, I love reading that man’s writing. But Philip Tan’s Batman & Robin really left a bad taste in my mouth. Here is hoping that Tan has improved his art and whatever that hasn’t will be redrawn by Jose.

  9. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    You don’t think Man-At-Arms would have a problem with his enemy having control over his kingdom?

    Nice try though!

  10. Awesome, I will be checking this out. He-Man has some of the best rogue of villains, and I really like the story Robinson is pitching here.

  11. I will only buy this series if I see Orko within the first 10 pages.

  12. Any word on how involved Ram Man is going to be?

  13. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    Wonder how Cringer fits in. Like, is he hauling the timber Adam the woodsman is chopping down ?

    See, now it’s a whole thing. The meek and mild Cringer would be so much happier in that reality. Just clocking in and moving lumber instead of constantly being tasked with going into battle and saving Eternia from some really scary shit. So Adam’s gonna go, “Pal, those male wish fulfillment dreams I told you about? Memories. Memories. We gotta fix this. We can be heroes again.” So for maybe four issues, Cringer will be trying his best to sabotage this whole thing.

    “You know what though, Adam. SkeletorCare is actually a much better system then what we had in old Eternia. Maybe we just….”
    “No, LumberCat! For Grayskull!”
    “I feel like I’ve really found my niche in the logging industry and….”
    “Coward!”
    “This is what I’m saying! Jesus!”

  14. He-Man? I was into it as a kid. I’m interested. James Robinson? I like his work a lot of the time. Still interested. Phillip Tan? Not a fan of his. In particular, I find his story telling hard to follow. No longer interested.

  15. This is so cool, no word of a lie just five days ago I dug my Castle Greyskull playset out of my parents crawl space, along with Trap Jaw, dusted those lovelies off and revelled in my memories, and now this.

  16. I love the idea of James Robinson doing a MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE book. Everything he does has such a classic feel to it already. It seems only perfect that he write this. Phillip Tan’s art was the sole reason for me buying SAVAGE HAWKMAN, a title I wanted to love. He managed to produce awesome art all the while having tony Daniel suck the life out of HAWKMAN.

  17. I wonder why they decided to go with this (other than the obvious nostalgia grab) and not just put Robinson on a Warlord mini?

    • I’d guess because they got the licence for He-Man and figured it would sell, and also because the Warlord (09-10) comic massively tanked. i wouldn’t be surprised to see Skartaris in DC universe presents at some point.

  18. Man there’s a lot of condescending comments on this thread….so why not add more!?

    I love He-Man when I was a kid, but James Robinson and Phillip Tan on the same book is like a personal hell to me. That cover in particular looks pretty fugly if you ask me….I hope that is a justifiable comment and I won’t get any snide remarks on it.

  19. Being a nostalgic He-man fan still, I will definitely give this a shot. The premise sounds really good.

  20. Anyone else remember the Dolph Lundgren Masters of the Universe movie? While not the best piece of cinema, Skeletor looked positively creepy in it.

  21. Best thing about James Robinson writing this: we won’t have to worry about crossovers messing up his creative plans.

  22. I’m filing this under “may pick up the first issue if it comes out on a not too heavy week for me”. i generally don’t buy licensed books, but He-Man was one of my favourite cartoons as a kid, so i might give it a go.

  23. “Cringer-worthy pencils from Phillip Tan”

    Why the F is Tim Seeley not doing this?! http://www.thecomicbooknerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/POWERCONCOVER_ink.jpg

  24. Robinson’s best work belongs to my favourite comics. Thus I’m positively biased towards most of the things his name is on. At the same time I can’t imagine that this writer – or anybody else – could do something interesting with an action figures franchise like this. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe there is more to He-Man et al. than I know, but I just think his talent is not needed on such a book.

  25. Not interested in another He-Man revival, however what would be neat would be a collection of the old He-Man comics that came with the action figures, but this time published in a larger format.