Written by A new installment in this reoccurring series!
For years Michael ”Smitty.81” Smith has been largely responsible for digitizing minicomics for the "Masters of the Universe" community. Now, HE-MANIA.COM will be officially cataloging his work, accompanied with his personal reviews.
COMIC:
REVIEW:
“Battle Armor Reborn”
STORY:
Early on in the Origins action figure line we received Battle Armor He-Man, Battle Armor Skeletor, Ram Man and Clamp Champ and our first set of deluxe figures, and they all got to star in one mini comic together. The story opens as King Randor and Queen Marlena are returning from a meeting of the “Great Kingdoms.” Randor seems pleased with how things went, but Marlena is worried about their convoy travelling through “Dragon Valley.” Randor tries to reassure the Queen by mentioning the quality of their guards, all picked by Captain Teela, including Clamp Champ. Sitting on the outside on the royal APC is a very unhappy Clamp Champ. He sees something up ahead: Skeletor’s hover robots. “It’s an ambush!” Back at the palace He-Man, Man-at-Arms and Teela get a call from Clamp Champ requesting backup. Man-at-Arms shoves the Battle Armor into He-Man’s hands and sends him off to save the King and Queen. Back in Dragon Valley, Clamp Champ and the Royal Guards are fighting the hover robots, but they are being overwhelmed and Clamp Champ falls off the Royal APC. Suddenly Ram Man shows up taking out several hover robots, but he soon collides with Battle Armor Skeletor and Ram Man gets knocked down. Skeletor brags about how cool his armor is and then at his command, the hover robots resume the attack. Skeletor gets on top of the royal APC, gives it a sunroof, and demands Randor’s crown as payment for his auto body work. Just then, He-Man shows up on Battle Cat. He-Man and Skeletor fight, but once Skeletor receives two dents in his armor he decides to have a nap and He-Man declares victory.
ART:
These early mini comics have excellent artwork, and the last page makes effective use of the space to show He-Man and Skeletor battling in an intense sword fight. While the art is terrific, there is a glaring error in coloring where Skeletor’s sword is colored gray in the first two pictures, but it is purple throughout the rest of the mini comic.
CONTINUITY:
There’s not much in the way of any connective tissue for this story. The artist did include damage to Skeletor’s battle armor that effectively matched the toy, once after he was hit by Ram Man and again when He-Man defeated him. One oddity in the story is where He-Man is just hanging out at the royal palace. Perhaps being only six pages in length, there just isn’t enough room for Adam to make an excuse to leave and turn into He-Man. I’m not sure how this is “Battle Armor Reborn” when this seems to be the first time both He-Man and Skeletor are using their battle armor?
FINAL THOUGHT:
This mini comic does an excellent job showcasing the first four deluxe figures and telling a decent story.
– Review by Michael ”Smitty.81” Smith @smitty-81