As a property, Masters of the Universe is certainly not without its fair share of fan creations. Indeed, we have extensively covered a variety of fan created action figures and accessory kits on this site, but today we have a look at something a little different (at least for us): the Attack on Castle Grayskull fan comic.
Over the years I have had a chance to befriend several fellow MOTU fans, and I can safely say that many of my German pals are some of the most passionate about the property. We all know MOTU has always been popular in the States, but Germany most certainly has a strong fan contingent and a history of many different and unique MOTU stories and collectibles. In fact, I have observed a lot of the fandom from up close with a lot cool MOTUC accessory kits and fan magazines, but I really hope to make it one of their conventions at some point, they look like some much, and you can see the passion for MOTU, even from afar.
I recently came in contact with a MOTU fan and artist named Karsten Klintzsch, by way of the guys at Jim Pansen creations. In doing so, I was introduced to a fan comic produced by Karsten himself, and I wanted to say a bit about it today. When it comes to things like fan fiction, you never really know what you are going to get. I mean, Ibentmyman-thing is a mad MOTU genius, but not everything is always good, or even readable. Fortunately for me, and MOTU fans in general, what Karsten and his partners have created is a fun story with great art, as well as a respectful (and restrained) love letter to MOTU history, specifically German MOTU history.
The story of this comic in a adaptation of one of the many MOTU “audio plays” released in Germany in the 1980s. I have known about these for a long time, but considering I am an oaf and not at all fluent in German in any way (my other half knows a bit), I have not actually listened to any of them, so I am completely unaware of the actual stories. Sure, I know of Anti-Eternia He-Man (coming soon!), but that is about it. So, while this book was originally written in German (duh), it has now been translated very well into English, and I had a chance to shotgun through the entire story last weekend.
I like to let stories digest a bit before I talk about them, but even though I have had some time to live with the story, I have to apologize because I am not a very good book reviewer. I find it hard to walk the line of talking about the subject matter without giving too much away. Plus, since I am so partial to MOTU, a story like this is a nice shot to the nostalgia feels, and I mean that in a very complimentary way.
While this is a fan-produced book, the quality of the book, including the cover, paper, coloring, lettering and printing are all very well done. Like I said, this is very much a passion project, but it is presented in the utmost professional manner. Kirsten’s art has its own style, but it fits within the context of MOTU, and you are never ever, even once, at a loss for recognizing a character or Eternian landscape. Some of the characters have a bit more style to them, like He-Man, but it is always interesting to see a new interpretation of the character while still remaining true to the classic design. Others, like Ram Man, are very traditional, especially if you prefer the more savage beginnings of MOTU via the vintage mini-comics.
The coloring is clean and vivid, which is good for MOTU, and the blocking in the art follows the flow of the story in a comfortable and intuitive way. There is never a cell where the word bubbles take over the art, and the distribution of the story is paced evenly between panels. This is all well-conceived, and in true traditional MOTU fashion, there are little Easter Eggs hidden throughout the book that warrant multiple readings, just so you are sure not to miss anything.
Now, I am not going to get into the story much because, really, if you are a MOTU fan, you should get yourself a copy of the book. That said, I cannot comment on the adaptation of this from the original play in terms of how faithful it is, but from a story perspective, it is nicely framed and the pacing is very appropriate. The plot involves some classically familiar themes, both the MOTU and comics in general, but there are enough unique twists and new MOTU concepts to keep even the most well-verse fan interested. The characters are controlled, and the story doesn’t go overboard just for the sake of cramming a lot of guys in there, but I would have loved to have seen Mer-Man show up, just to see how he would be interpreted in this world.
Personally, I enjoyed the story quite a bit, and while I am bit guarded with my take on MOTU as a property, I find this to be a fitting tribute and a well-written story. The art is cool and very appropriate, so while the pacing and dialogue go fast, you will want to flip back through the pages to make sure you did not miss anything visually. Frankly, I find this kind of story much more to my liking than most of what DC is currently offering, so it is nice to have a different piece of media to continue to enjoy MOTU.
So, if this is your first experience with this, I highly recommend that you dig a little deeper to learn more about this and the other ongoing MOTU projects Karsten and crew are working on. You can check out a lot more about the book, Karsten himself, and those upcoming projects on MOTU Audio Play Comic Project Facebook page. Thanks for checking this out, and thanks to Karsten for giving us a very fun and professional story. Well done!
