Image Comics, the first comic publisher to successfully revive a Reagan-era license with its G.I. Joe comic series, announced today that it will publish a He-Man and the Masters of the Universe comic based on the character owned by the Mattel toy company. Along with G.I. Joe, Battle of the Planets, and Micronauts, the new Masters Of the Universe comic will give Image a 'fearsome foursome' of retro titles and the clear designation as the number one publisher in the current wave of comic revivals (see 'Why is Retro Better Than Ever' for an examination of this dynamic and growing phenomenon).  As reported earlier on ICv2, MV creations, a company headed by He-Man maven Val Staples, acquired the license to create He-Man comics from Mattel (see 'He-Man is Back in Comics and Cartoons').  The news that Staples will have the resources of Image backing his first foray into big time publishing has to be reassuring for retailers and He-Man fans alike.

 

Staples, along with some surprise guest writers, will pen the stories for the new comic series.  The new narratives will be driven in part by Mattel's desire that the plots 'revolve around the saga of the new toy line and the new cartoon series,' but Staples added, 'we will explore areas fans have wondered about for years, and the comic will lead up to things no one ever expected.'  Italian artist Emiliano Santalucia will provide the pencils for the comic, which will be colored by Jason Keith.  In keeping with the promotional style that has been extremely successful so far for these 'retro' comics, Image will provide a number of covers by various artists for the first issue of He-Man.  Fan favorite J.Scott Campbell will do one of three covers for the first issue, with Santalucia providing another, and painter Earl Norem, who worked on the posters and covers of the old Masters of the Universe magazine (as well as the great Mars Attack trading cards from Topps), will paint a special wraparound cover variant.

 

Image's revival of Masters of the Universe doesn't take place in a vacuum -- the cartoon is being revived on the Cartoon Network starting in August, and Mattel is bringing back the He-Man & the Masters of the Universe toy line with one of the largest action figure launches in Mattel's history.  Retailers who wish to profit from this and other retro products are urged to check out ICv2's current 'Better Than Ever' promotion.