He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #1

• The cover feels like an after-thought, the interiors are superior.
• The inner-monologue feels over-written, not bad but it makes the comic feel almost dated.
• This is a very pretty book to look at.
• Not much happens in this first issue, very decompressed.
• The story is a very bare-bones fantasy adventure, the only real difference being that these are established characters and the twist that we the audience knows that this world is not as it is supposed to be.
• I don’t know much about He-Man story-wise, so I can’t say for certain if the characters were in-character or not.
• Overall this is a generic fantasy story starring He-Man characters, not bad but not great. Pretty to look at.
• According to Philip Tan, mail armor is the new pouches/belts.
• I am reminded of the first issue of Earth Two, which was similarly overwritten but had potential. That series turned out to be great. I will wait for another issue to come out before I pass judgement on this.
• I really wanna watch the 2002 He-Man cartoon now.

Dial H #3

• Up until now I had been reading the issues only as they were being released, but recently i’ve reread the entire ongoing from the beginning.
• On my first read-through I was focused mainly on how cool all the transformations were.
• The second time around, I started noticing the plot more, and it left me scratching my head.
• By the third time, I was picking up a lot more. There is a really cool, intricate story being weaved. The characters Manteau and Squid in particular are fascinating.
• Manteau is a great foil to our Nelson, but more than that she is pretty much the definition of what i’d call a strong female character.
• The idea of identity, getting lost in an alternate persona, really shines through in this issue. You get the idea that Manteau has been through what Nelson is going through, but she has taken precautions against the Dial so she retains what is left of her original life.
• Her best Dial Form is obviously the Fireman one.
• Squid just seemed like a weird monster dude to me with the gimmick of switching between dialects at the drop of a hat. I’m happy that that isn’t just a gimmick, X.N. explains what that is all about in a really great panel.
• Ex Nihilo (X.N.) is the only character I don’t really “get” so far, but I just realized she was in the first issue acting as Darren Hirsch’s doctor- sneaky
• This issue gives us a lot of information at rapid pace while also delivering some good action.
• The art here by Matteus Santolouco is unlike anything you’ll find in any of DC book (in a good way), as is the sheer imagination and weirdness.
• It has the benefit of being disconnected from the rest of the DCnU too, so it stands entirely on it’s own merits.
• This book warrants multiple read-throughs, but it may be my favorite New 52 book yet.