Dark Horse Comics has announced Masters of the Universe: Genesis, a 12-issue series exploring the history of He-Man’s world of Eternia. The first, three-issue arc will spotlight none other than the evil Skeletor, and feature a script by Rich Douek, art by Gavin Smith, coloring by Fabi Marques, and lettering by AndWorld Design. Future arcs will feature contributions from Cavan Scott, Nick Roche, John Harris Dunning, Giovanna La Pietra, Tiffany Smith, and more.
The first issue’s synopsis reads, “Discover the origins of your favorite heroes and villains! In issue #1, we meet Skeletor — a power-hungry demon-mage determined to seize control of Castle Grayskull, conquer Eternia, and become Master of the Universe!” Skeletor is often portrayed as having begun life as Keldor, He-Man/Prince Adam’s uncle, before his disfigurement, and as the protégé of She-Ra/Adora’s nemesis Hordak, but whether any of this will be retained by the comic remains to be seen.
Many of the creatives are newcomers to official Masters of the Universe media, although Tiffany Smith, who voiced Andra on Netflix’s Masters of the Universe: Revelation and Revolution, wrote a one-shot about the character last year. Douek and Smith previously collaborated at Dark Horse on the 2024 fantasy series Heartpiercer, while Scott and Roche worked together on 2000 AD’s all-ages Regened line.
The book will begin on August 5, two months after the release of the new Masters of the Universe movie (where Skeletor is, quite awkwardly, being played by Jared Leto). Issue #1 will receive a main cover by Mark Buckingham, and a variant by Lee Bermejo, which you can check out below. The movie itself will receive a comic from the publisher, The Wings of Fate (starting June 10), as well as a swath of other tie-in material.
In the meantime, issue #5 of the main Masters of the Universe comic will be released on May 13. Written by Tim Seeley, with art by Reilly Brown, it will kick off a new four-issue arc, “The Battle of Snake Mountain.” The first arc, The Sword of Flaws (by Seeley and Freddie E. Williams II), will be released in trade paperback on July 28.
