Indie Creator Power

A review of Stud and the Bloodblade #1

Between Stud and the Bloodblade and Netflix, I found more reasons to keep reading comics.

Last week the trailer came out for Part Two of “Masters of the Universe: Revelation,” and I was a bit miffed. Netflix went way out of their way to appease the angry fanboys who trashed Kevin Smith’s update to the 80’s “He-Man” cartoon — a cartoon known in today’s world for memes like this — for not being manly man enough.

The 100% spoiler ridden trailer defuses all the suspense Smith and company built up in the first six episodes. In all likelihood, this was done to appease what Bob Chipman calls the “YouTube performative outrage industrial complex.” They might as well have had three minutes of Smith screaming, It’s okay! He-Man is coming back! It’s not the “She-Ra” cartoon! The status quo is restored! Find something else to be toxic towards! You can go back to ignoring us again!

Even though I liked the first half of “Revelations,” I‘m dejected enough by this not-even-recent example of toxic fandom. I don’t think any angry YouTuber changed the entire show midstream from what Smith intended all along, but it’s these kind of antics that make the simple act of anticipating the next chapter of anything an impossibility. All corporate properties have to be handled with kid gloves just to try and appease an audience that refuses to grow up.

Instead, I think I’ll commit to buying Stud and the Bloodblade, a crowdfunded comic deserving of much wider recognition for all the chances the creators are allowing themselves to take.

The product of a successful Kickstarter, Stud is described on the CEX Publishing Page as “He-Man meets the Tick meets Judge Dredd.” The product’s own ad copy aside, there’s far less slapstick zaniness and much more going on than rote madcap. the story’s hyperviolence aside, writer Perry Crowe and artist Jed Dougherty create a tone and visual style that wouldn’t be out of place in a He-Man comic story or cartoon. Even setting aside main the He-Man stand-in known as Stud, the supporting characters walk a razor thin line of parody and homage that creates joyful nostalgia for the zaniness that only 80’s twenty minute cartoon advertisements could provide. The second page of Stud featuring main villain…