Masters of the Universe #2
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMasters of the Universe #2 (2003, Image) is the second chapter of the six-part 'Dark Reflections' story arc, the second of three mini-series that MVCreations and Image Comics produced alongside Mattel's 2002 toy relaunch and Mike Young Productions animated revival. As part of a creative run deliberately set in a darker, more consequences-driven Eternia than the companion cartoon, the arc pushed He-Man mythology into territory the 39-episode television series never reached — including a mirror-dimension subplot that gestured toward a tyrannical alternate He-Man. The full 'Dark Reflections' run occupies a distinct place in MOTU publishing history as the comic bridge between the 'Shards of Darkness' opener and the 'Rise of the Snake Men' closer, and it remains one of the few sustained comic attempts to treat the 200X continuity with genuine narrative weight.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
MVCreations, the comic studio behind the 2002–2005 MOTU publishing program, produced this series in partnership with Image Comics as a direct companion to Mattel's relaunched toy line and the Mike Young Productions animated show. Writer Val Staples and primary penciler Emiliano Santalucia, with inks by Marco Failla, carried their creative team intact from the preceding 'Shards of Darkness' volume into 'Dark Reflections,' giving the run a consistent visual identity across both series. The issue shipped the week of March 19, 2003, and the series as a whole was later collected in a 112-page trade paperback by MVCreations in June 2004. The publishing arrangement eventually wound down after CrossGen — one of Image's distribution partners for the line — went bankrupt in 2004.
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- Published March 2003 by Image Comics (MVCreations); in stores the week of March 19, 2003.
- Written by Val Staples; pencils by Emiliano Santalucia; inks by Marco Failla — the same core creative team as the preceding 'Shards of Darkness' volume.
- Second issue of the six-part 'Dark Reflections' arc, the second of three MOTU mini-series published by Image/MVCreations between 2002 and 2003.
- Story continues Skeletor's plot to seize Castle Grayskull, which goes catastrophically wrong and results in Man-At-Arms being drawn into another dimension — the narrative spine of the 'Dark Reflections' arc.
- Two standard cover variants: Cover A by Emiliano Santalucia; Cover B by film-poster artist Drew Struzan, produced as a wraparound card-stock cover with foil stamping and spot varnish.
- Two retailer-exclusive variants produced for Graham Crackers Comics: a standard exclusive (limited to 2,500 copies, with numbered certificate of authenticity) and a Gold Foil exclusive (limited to 1,500 copies, with numbered certificate of authenticity).
- The 'Dark Reflections' series as a whole introduced Eternia characters and storylines that the 39-episode Mike Young Productions animated series never had time to explore.
- The full six-issue 'Dark Reflections' arc was later collected in a 112-page trade paperback published by MVCreations in June 2004 (ISBN 0-9748008-1-3), credited to Staples, Santalucia, and Enza Fontana.
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