Masters of the
Universe #12, “Lifetime,” is by Caragonne, Wilson, and Bulanadi. Here, Adam
must find the Power Sword, which has been sent thirty years into the future,
where Skeletor rules.
Oh, how I’ve been waiting for this one. After a little bit
of a weak start, this turns into an astonishingly fantastic issue. Caragonne
borrows from the 1987 film to put Skeletor in control of Grayskull by means of
the Cosmic Key – and then he pulls out all the stops, imprisoning and killing
off whomever he pleases, and making his dystopian Eternia an extremely
compelling, high-stakes place. The suspense and urgency are palpable on nearly
every page.
Caragonne gives us more good development of Adam and his
struggles with his identity and reputation, but much like issue #10 did with
Teela, doing so highlights the fact that there’s no good reason why Adam can’t
tell his parents his identity. Caragonne does a solid job with other characters
here, too, especially Randor and Marlena. He even addresses the ramifications
of Eternia’s growing hero population and overdependence on He-Man.
Wilson and Bulanadi turn in the usual quality work. Their
facial expressions go a long way toward setting the tone of the issue. And
Wilson even thought to make the future Adam taller. The only criticism is that
some of these future characters, who should be in their late forties at the
very minimum, don’t look near old enough.
In all, on the strength of its well-realized premise, “Lifetime”
must rank among the greatest He-Man stories ever told, in any medium.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Read it HERE
