ADVANCED REVIEW: ‘Masters of the Universe: Revelation,’ Issue #2

Masters of the Universe: Revelation #2 is written by Tim Sheridan, based on a story by Kevin Smith and Rob David, illustrated by Mindy Lee, colored by Rico Renzi, and lettered by Deron Bennett. It is published by Dark Horse Comics. Following the events of the first issue, Skeletor orders Evil-Lyn to reconnect with the Orlax so that he may finally learn the secrets of Castle Grayskull. In flashbacks, Skeletor’s life on the planet Apollyos, as well as the events that led him to become the self-titled “Lord of Destruction”, are finally revealed.

True to its title, this series has so far acted as a “revelation” of certain elements in the Masters of the Universe mythology, with the first issue revealing the origin of He-Man’s ‘sword of power’ and its first wielder King Grayskull. This issue fully dives into Skeletor’s origin story and is surprisingly  heartfelt. Much like He-Man, Skeletor sought power in order to gain justice for the people on Apollyos. Even more tragic, he sought that power for his family as well and is hinted to still be seeking it. That explains his obsession with unlocking the power of Castle Grayskull. Sheridan took a similar approach with his Revelation episode “Land of the Dead,” shedding light on the diminutive sorcerer Orko and the reasons behind his subpar spellcasting.

When it comes to the art, Lee and Renzi continue to make the series feel like an actual episode of Revelation in terms of design and color. Skeletor’s homeworld of Apollyon is rendered in cool blue tones, matching the skin of its inhabitants. His fellow Apollyons also have skeletal heads, which can make reading this comic quite disconcerting as half of it is taken up by grinning skulls whose speech sounds utterly inhuman thanks to Bennett’s jagged word balloons. Lee also gets to apply the Revelation art style to other characters, including Skeletor’s master Hordak. Hordak’s appearance is rather interesting, as he serves as the archnemesis of He-Man’s sister She-Ra and both characters are under different rights last I checked. Whether this hints at a She-Ra appearance in Revelation or is only confined to this miniseries remains to be seen.

The highlight of the issue is the interplay between Skeletor and Evil-Lyn. It says quite a lot about both characters that she is the only one he’s willing to tell his story to and that she doubts its truthfulness given his malicious nature. Readers who have watched Part 1 of Revelation will no doubt remember that Evil-Lyn and the other minions of Snake Mountain began to see the flaws in Skeletor’s quest. This issue acts as the soil for those seeds of doubt to grow, and the final page reveal hints that those seeds are growing faster than anyone expected.

Masters of the Universe: Revelation #2 continues to live up to the series’ subtitle, revealing new truths about the various characters in Masters of the Universe and acting as an effective prequel to the animated series. The next issue promises to reveal more about Evil-Lyn, who was one of my favorite characters in Part 1 of Revelation.

Masters of the Universe: Revelation #2 is available wherever comics are sold.